Cadence
by Bonami27
Summary: AU Equalist Mako and Avatar Korra. Following a botched mission, Korra is, unbeknownst to the Equalist faction, taken in as a slave under her alter-ego 'Koda'. She finds herself in a situation that could very well alter the future for not only for herself but for a certain Equalist lackey. Makorra.
1. Chapter 1

Cadence Chapter One: Caught in the Cross fire

* * *

_'Tenzin always said my compassion would be the death of me,'_ Korra reflected bitterly. _'I just never thought he meant that literally.'_

Korra had been sent to a village on the out skirts of the United Nations to deal with an outbreak of a particularly nasty strain of measles. It wasn't much of a concern to mature, healthy adults, but several toddlers had contracted the disease and had later died from it. It had taken a few days, but Korra had managed to isolate all those infected and those suspected of being infected, planning to let the disease run its course in those who were otherwise healthy and strong. The young children – those most in danger– she'd used spirit water on, to cure them.

Unfortunately, performing such long hours of healing was very draining, even for the Avatar, and Korra, having set off for Republic City, was very much lacking in energy– mistake number one.

Then, when she'd heard the sounds of battle and cries of distress on the road ahead of her, she'd sped forward to help without really considering the consequences of doing so – mistake number two.

In short, a few mistakes had led to her current predicament – battling with a bunch of Equalists in an attempt to liberate a group of travelers they were in the process of kidnapping.

A battle she was swiftly losing. Her energy was low, she was exhausted, and she had leapt into a battle with twenty-plus Equalists without really considering the consequences.

_'Good thing you can't be criminally stupid, or I'd be judged guilty as charged within five minutes.'_

The fight had gone from 'help the people they're kidnapping' to 'try not to get abducted yourself'. She didn't know why they were being so indiscriminant about the people they were grabbing, but all their attacks had clearly been meant to incapacitate her, rather than kill – maybe Amon needed people for his rallies or something...

Korra danced backwards, avoiding the spark of electricity that came from an Equalist glove...and discovered she'd forgotten to take the position of the river into account when she moved.

_'Another sign you really weren't up for this battle_,' she told herself as she let her body go limp, so that the tumble down the steep bank wouldn't break any limbs. _'You're not even thinking straight! Idiot!'_

The plunge into the water winded her slightly, but Korra had enough presence of mind to refrain from breaking the surface instantly. Instead, she yielded to the current, hoping it could carry her out of danger before the breath in her lungs ran out.

She took a moment to be thankful it was the rainy season – thus, the strong current – and that the river was deep.

When Korra finally broke the surface and clambered onto the grassy bank, she allowed herself to hope for a moment that she'd eluded them...until she heard the shouts, and the sound of many people clambering through the forest.

No matter how skilled they were in hand-to-hand combat, stealth was not the Equalists strong point.

Unfortunately, she'd reached a lull in the river – the current would not sweep her along very fast here, and it certainly couldn't take her far enough away from her pursuers. She could run, but Korra doubted she'd get very far. Or she could fight...

Frankly, Korra preferred the option of fighting – at least that way she wouldn't end up at the mercy of twenty-plus Equalists without morals or scruples, but...

The world would never forgive her. More importantly, Korra would never forgive herself. So she mentally revised her plans. _'I'll have to get caught – for a while, at least. I'm too exhausted to fight them off; I'll have a better chance of escaping after I've had some rest. Even if it means spending a night or two as a captive.'_

She wasn't stupid – she knew she was inviting a lot of variables into this plan by enabling her capture...but it was currently the best idea she had.

So, mustering up the remaining energy she had, Korra clutched the Earth Kingdom dagger she'd received from Suyin and gathered her thick hair in her hands, slicing the long chocolate locks clean off her head. She clenched the tendrils of her hair in her hands a moment before tossing them into the river before her, her hair almost immediately swept away by the current.

She wasn't going to be captured as 'The Avatar', because that was just inviting all kinds of trouble. She wasn't even going to be captured as a woman – something told her it wouldn't be a good idea to be a female captive.

The pulse of energy in her body died to a low-level hum, and Korra leaned out over the water to check out her handiwork.

A much more boyish Korra gazed back at her, her once luscious long hair now sat at her jaw line, falling slightly into her bright turquoise eyes. _'My eyes,' _Korra grimaced, were something that Korra had no control over, and that she certainly could not disguise.

Hearing her pursuers closing in, Korra swiftly shed her fur pelt and parker so she would appear to be clad in unisex clothes and discarded any and all items she had with her, shoving them into a particularly dense patch of reeds.

Then, though it was difficult to do, she sprawled herself out on the bank like a lizard sunning itself, trying to act as though she was completely unaware of the Equalists closing in on her. With a bit of luck, she could pass as a boy lounging carelessly on a riverbank. They'd come along, and she would...well, she was fairly certain most people would run for their lives upon encountering a group of Equalists. Any bender certainly would.

She tensed as they came closer, finally looking up when her pursuers burst from the trees.

Korra painted her best look of wide-eyed disbelief and shock on her features, before she scrambled to her feet and tried to run. She didn't have to fake running at non-bender speeds – her exhaustion and the fact that she was already so tired, she thought she could be outrun by a geriatric snail.

So she wasn't surprised when her arms were grabbed and twisted sharply, forcing her to her knees.

"Boy!" one of her captors hissed, his fingers clenching in her hair and pulling her head back. "Did you see the Avatar pass by here?"

Korra shook her head wildly, trying to act as though she were scared speechless. She was inwardly pleased that her new hair cut was enough for her to pass by as a boy.

"Who cares?" another of them snapped. "We can meet our quota with this one – take him!"

Korra found herself hustled back towards the road they'd initially tangled on. The travelers she had tried to help had been strung out in a long line, their hands bound in front of them, roped to each other by nooses around their necks. In fact, it looked a lot like...

Korra froze as realisation hit. This was a slave line!

Of course, she shouldn't be surprised. The Equalist faction was so corrupt it came as no shock to her that they would either use slaves or profit from their sale.

Korra allowed herself to hope they would simply be sold at some market in one of the less hospitable countries – it would be far easier to escape from there than from a Equalists stronghold.

Not to mention, she might encounter...

Korra shook her head, driving all thoughts of Mako out of her mind. She needed to concentrate on her own survival, first and foremost.

* * *

By the time the straggling slave line had reached one of the Equalist strong holds, Korra was truly furious at the world. She was furious at herself for being stupid and getting involved in a battle without considering the consequences; she was furious at the fact that she and the other prisoners were being taken to an Equalist base instead of a slave market somewhere; and she was definitely furious at the Equalists who were 'escorting' them.

Of course, they were probably pretty furious with her, too. In the three days since she'd been captured, Korra had gained a reputation for being a resistant troublemaker. She'd tried to escape a total of four times, and been recaptured and dragged back each time. Her back still stung from the lashes she'd been given in punishment, though the wounds had stopped bleeding.

All her failed escape attempts had done was driven home the message that she had to play ball – at least for now. She couldn't escape if she was beaten half to death, could she?

She darted a compassionate glance at the people in front of her. After three days of captivity, sprinkled with constant threats and her own public punishments for her attempted escapes, the travelers seemed well and truly cowed. It was almost ironic – her whippings had more of an impact on them than they'd had on her.

But then, she was The Avatar – she was used to pain. It wasn't pleasant to bear, but it was something she could deal with.

The line halted at what appeared to be a solid cliff face...until one of the Equalist lackeys rapped sharply on it – Korra memorised the pattern: two soft, three loud – and a hidden door opened in the rock.

Korra didn't know what was happening, but the slave line moved forward in stops and starts. Her first thought was that they were being processed somehow, and trepidation welled in her at the thought of what that process might involve.

When it was her turn to be shoved through the doorway, Korra set her jaw and squared her shoulders, determined to face whatever awaited her...

To find it was a thin, weedy man wearing the standard Equalist 'uniform' and holding a collar and what looked like brown clothing. Korra thought she could make out others behind him, but the change of lighting from the bright forest to the dim stone corridor had bright spots flaring in her vision as her eyes adjusted.

Someone grabbed hold of her hair, and she resisted the urge to lash out, settling for flexing her bound hands in frustration. The man in front of her raised the leather collar then frowned.

"I can sense strong energy from him," he murmured, making a vague motion behind him that Korra didn't catch in the low light.

The collar he brought forth made Korra's blood freeze solid in her veins, thickening to jelly. It was leather, yes, but there was a strip of metal adorning the middle, with a long needle protruding from it. And it wasn't a simple strap that secured it, but what looked like some sort of lock.

One look and Korra knew she didn't want that collar anywhere near her. She had no idea what it was going to do, but that needle didn't look like it would help her in any way, shape or form.

So she bucked against the hold on her hair like a wild Ostrich Horse, trying futilely to twist away from the collar. Someone kicked her in the back of her knee, forcing it to bend and sending her lurching to the floor. Hands gripped her shoulders, keeping her down as her hair was wrenched forward so sharply she felt tears prick her eyes, baring the back of her neck.

She still struggled, but there wasn't much she could do, and she couldn't help crying out when she felt the needle slide into the back of her neck.

But the pain of needle was nothing compared to the sensation that jolted through her body as the collar was snapped closed, like a powerful electric shock. She didn't know what that needle was doing, but it somehow interfered with her energy. Korra struggled to maintain her balance as the world blurred before her, her limbs folding like green twigs. Every ounce of energy in her body went towards stopping her from collapsing to the ground.

And it seemed to work. She managed to keep herself from meeting with the graveled ground beneath her. As she was yanked to her feet again, Korra became aware that the collar had done something to her strength. She didn't know what, but it felt...restricted.

_'It's probably meant to restrict the captive's ability to bend the elements somehow_,' she told herself as she was handed a simple brown clothes and shoved in the direction of the other slaves with orders to get dressed quickly. _'The needle must deliver some sort of electric pulse_.'

She knew it was probably meant to keep energy at a non-benders level, but she was lucky in that respect – she was already drained, so the energy and strength the man had sensed wasn't her true strength. Nowhere near it. In other words, the restriction they'd placed on her probably wouldn't restrict all her strength when she managed to recover it. It would make fighting in a battle difficult, but she'd certainly have more strength than they would expect her to have.

At least, assuming the collar was set to a specific level.

Freed from her bonds and left with the other slaves, Korra set about trying to change into the brown clothes and surreptitiously use the remains of her old clothes to bind her chest flat. A boyish hair cut was all well and good, but she needed to make sure there was no physical hint of cleavage.

In the end, Korra's chest wasn't completely flat, but certainly flat enough to get by beneath the shapeless slave shirt. She could pass for a male physically, but she'd need to modify her behaviour to a certain extent as well. On the journey, she'd been dredging up recollections of her friends in en effort to emulate masculine behaviour. Of course, given that her male friends were Bolin, Meelo and Kai, the other prisoners probably thought she was crazy, but it was better than thinking that she was a female in disguise.

Placing her back against the stone wall as the other captives milled around in confusion, Korra took stock of her surroundings. This seemed to be another of Sound's underground hideouts, though she couldn't guess at how big it was or if it was one of the main ones. For all she knew, this could just be a pit stop before they reached their true destination.

"Koda?"

Korra had to remind herself to turn to the boy who had addressed her. She'd introduced herself as Koda, on the grounds that it sounded like a male name, and since she was already accustomed to answering to 'Korra' when she was summoned, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to respond to it.

"Yeah, kid?" she asked.

"What do you think is going to happen to us?"

"Don't know," Korra admitted, trying to sound unaffected even as her heart broke for him. "Maybe they're trying to figure out-"

"_Shut up!_"

Korra jerked automatically as one of their captors bellowed at them, his voice reverberating across the stonewalls.

"Someone didn't get their Ginseng tea today..." she muttered under her breath. The sarcasm and bravado was helping her cope with her situation; as long as she was defying them in some way, she could pretend her immediate future wasn't about to be decided by corrupt sadists.

"You have brought in a good crop..." The soft voice from the shadows sent a tremble rippling through Korra's frame.

_Amon._

Apparently they had been brought to one of the Equalist factions main bases, after all.

Their captors bowed, and the Equalist head stepped into the light...with Mako at his side.

Korra tensed, her heart suddenly slamming against her ribs like the kicks of a wild Ostrich Horse.

"Well, are there any that catch your eye?" Amon asked Mako, as though they were discussing a group of hippo cows.

"I require no slave." Mako stated.

And he didn't. The slaves the Equalists used always made him uneasy, their bowed heads and empty eyes always stirring something within him. Something that he told himself was contempt, but that was dangerously close to pity.

Amon ignored his statement, however, and a flare of rage burst in Mako's gut.

"Take your pick," the masked man shrugged. "Since you seem so averse to the slaves already working here..."

Mako skimmed his eyes over the ragtag group – apparently a family of travelers that had been waylaid on the road.

And now, they were looking at a lifetime of servitude.

Mako shook off the cloud of sympathy that threatened to disperse, forcing himself to feel nothing but disgust at the obvious fear in their eyes, the way they cringed back against the wall like mice cowering from a cat. Their spirits were already bending.

Then his eyes landed on the boy standing in the back. He, too, was leaning against the wall, but it was a posture closer to that of a casual slouch than a cringe. He, too, was averting his eyes, but it wasn't in fear – on the contrary, it was more an act of disinterest, as though even Amon was beneath his notice.

And the collar; the leather secured with a metal lock; Mako had seen those kind of collars before. They were only used to restrain those who could manipulate the elements – those who were benders.

Mako's curiosity was piqued. The boy couldn't have been much older than him, perhaps even younger.

As though sensing his gaze, the boy's gaze flickered to hold his own, and Mako found himself staring into iridescent turquoise eyes. Eyes that were fierce and spirited, and were certainly not the eyes of a broken man.

There was something strangely familiar about those eyes. Something that tugged at the back of his mind, teasing him with whispers of recognition and echoes of memory.

"Him," Mako said bluntly, pointing to the turquoise-eyed boy.

Korra bit her tongue to keep herself from swearing. As soon as the purpose of Mako's visit had been made clear, Korra had tried to make herself as unobtrusive as possible, praying to the Spirits, that he wouldn't pick her. She didn't need a large bucket of emotional upset on top of her current problems. She'd even averted her eyes, remembering that eye contact was a sure-fire way of gaining someone's attention.

And he'd picked her anyway.

_'Great. Just great.'_ Even her thoughts were sarcastic.

"Sure you wouldn't like one of the women?" Amon murmured. "The males might be physically stronger, but the females can take care of...certain needs. Though I suppose you can use males for the same purpose, if your desires are such."

Mako paid him no mind.

Korra, for her part, was on the verge of screaming. How was she supposed to escape when she was going to be around Mako all the time? She refused to admit that some part of her was glad; for Spirit's sake, if he'd been prepared to kill his own brother, he certainly wouldn't hesitate when it came to her.

A swift wrench on her shoulder pulled Korra from her horrified thoughts.

"Go to Mako," her thuggish captor barked.

Korra rolled her eyes unobtrusively; it wouldn't do to go asking for trouble, and obeyed.

Mako turned and strode away down the corridor without looking back. Assuming she was supposed to follow, Korra hurried after him, glancing back at the small group of new slaves being inspected by Amon before she had to turn a corner and they were blocked from her sight.

She shadowed Mako through the corridors, trying to memorise their layout for when she made her escape. When they reached a heavy door at the end of the corridor, Korra assumed they'd reached their destination, and she was proven correct when Mako opened the door and entered without preamble.

Korra strolled in behind him, a little taken aback at the size of the room. His entire back in Republic City apartment wasn't this big!

Mako jerked his head in the direction of a bare corner. "You sleep there. If you want any sort of bedding, get it yourself."

'_He's changed so much.'_ Korra was certainly taken aback by Mako's newfound curtness.

"Someone's pissy..." Korra breathed, too low to be heard.

But she hadn't taken into account the rooms' stonewalls that amplified sound or Mako's keen ears. "What was that?"

"Nothing," She denied automatically.

She doubted that Mako would pursue the line of inquiry – he probably considered it beneath him – and was surprised when he turned to her, amber eyes sharp and seeking. She felt the urge to step back but stood her ground determinedly.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"Koda," she stated.

"Last name or first name?" Mako interrogated.

"I don't think I want you to know," Korra snapped, feeling off-balance and a little nervous. What was Mako playing at?

Mako stared at the boy, half intrigued and half exasperated. Koda was either completely ignorant of his situation, or he possessed a lot more guts than Mako had first anticipated.

Even if the defiance did make him want to bite back, Mako thought it was still a nice change from the usual brand of slaves toiling from Amon.

But Koda wasn't even paying attention to him anymore; his eyes were darting around the room in what someone less perceptive might have taken for fear. But Mako could see the calculation in his face – the slightly furrowed brow a sign of concentration rather than unease – and knew he was scanning the windowless room for obvious weak points or escape avenues beside the door they had just come through.

"You're already planning an escape," Mako noted, just to see how Koda would react at the idea that his plans were discovered.

"Wouldn't you, in my place?" the boy snapped.

_'Play it cool, Korra,'_ she urged herself. _'Play it cool, play it cool – you can do this, you can do this..._'

Mako shocked Korra with his next words. "I suppose I would."

Korra reflected that there was something oddly comforting about the fact that Mako's honesty hadn't changed. "Exactly..."

She hoped her remark would end this weird conversation. Why was Mako bothering to talk to her? For all he knew, she was a young male slave with a smart mouth who he didn't want to have to serve him in the first place.

What she did know was that she didn't like the look on his face. As though he was staring at a jigsaw puzzle that hadn't been finished, and he was trying to work out what the complete picture was. As though she intrigued him, and he wanted to figure her out.

And frankly, her escape was going to be a lot more complicated if Mako was going to be watching her like a cat owl.

When she wanted his attention, she never got it and now, when she didn't want his attention, he was giving it to her in spades. It was kind of funny, in a way and also kind of painful, but Korra wasn't about to dwell on that.

"You stink, go clean up," Mako ordered, turning his back on her.

Korra might have been offended, except she knew he was telling the truth. Between three days of traveling in the wilderness, one escape attempt that had led her into a swamp and the dried blood that was making her back itch even now, Korra knew she must smell something awful.

And she wasn't going to turn down the offer to bathe. At least, that's what she thought he was ordering her to do.

So Korra moved towards the door at the other end of the room, the door that she was fairly certain led to a bathroom, as Mako was already rifling through a closet like she wasn't there.

* * *

Five minutes later, Korra decided she loved whoever had invented indoor plumbing. Loved them completely, utterly and unconditionally. Loved them, loved them, loved them.

A hot shower had never felt so good.

But it did sting the welts on her back, making the water at her feet tinge pink for a few moments as the blood spiraled into the drain, some of it old and brown, some of it new and bright from where the wounds had reopened. Korra grimaced at the sight, gingerly feeling her injuries and turning the possibility of infection over in her mind. On one hand, she was young and fit, and she ate well, got plenty of sleep, and in general kept her immune system in good health. On the other hand, she was tired, under a lot of emotional stress, with only more to come, and the injury had been given many long hours of exposure to dirt, dust and grime. Infection was a definite possibility. Maybe not serious, but certainly debilitating and irritating – plus, she wouldn't put it past Amon to just kill any sick captive on the spot in lieu of medical attention.

Korra stood under the water and considered what she could do. She could let Mako know about the injuries, were they to become infected, but she had no idea how he'd react. Besides, even if he did decide to get her treated, that would involve being poked and prodded by some healer she was not familiar with, which Korra was rather keen to avoid to all costs..

Of course, she could always try to heal it herself. The collar limited her ability to connect with her bending, but it didn't block it entirely. Sure, she'd probably get her ass handed to her if she tried to start a fight, but she probably had enough to knit the marks on her back together without much trouble.

Then again, she didn't know precisely what the collar would do if she tried to perform any sort of bending.

With that thought in mind, Korra twisted her head until she could glimpse the bathroom mirror out of the corner of her eye. She'd avoided it when she entered, not out of vanity, but more because it was just plain _weird_ for her to see her boyish self, looking back at her, but now she thought she had some use for it. With a careful alignment of eyes and mirror, and pulling a few wet strands of hair out of the way, Korra got her first good look at the back of her collar.

It was a small band of metal not unlike the lock that held it closed. Except this was rounded and slightly raised, and she wondered if there was some kind of electric current or toxin contained within it. It would explain the needle, and also the way the area had gone slightly numb. Of course, assuming there was only a limited amount of toxin contained or a set number of hours for the electric current in the collar meant that this restraint had a use-by date. There would come a time when it would no longer function.

Korra poked and prodded at the collar, wincing when she yanked a little too hard, the thin needle shifting slightly in her neck. Apparently there was only so much the toxin or pulse numbed; if someone ever grabbed it and used it to shake her, it would hurt her more than she'd be willing to admit.

Silently vowing not to allow anyone to touch her collar, Korra finally decided to take a chance. It couldn't hurt just to try a little bit of healing, to just see what she could get away with. Besides, it wasn't like she needed to heal them _entirely_ – just enough to close them and deal with any infection that had already set in.

Inhaling deeply, Korra pressed a hand against her side, gathered any strength she could conjure and took a gamble.

It left her light-headed, slightly dizzy and a little nauseous, though that could have been a result of the dizziness, but the welts on her lower back healed to the point where they had firmly scabbed over, though they were still red and raw.

Korra toweled herself dry, dressed in the brown clothes that she was beginning to think were the mark of a slave under the Equalist regime, and started to leave the bathroom. Korra _just_ managed to stop herself just before she broke her nose against Mako's chest.

"Whoa!" she couldn't help exclaiming, darting backwards and then kicking herself as she realised her movements had betrayed reflexes and graces most non-benders simply didn't have. Sure, the collar was a mark that they'd sensed strong bending ability, but for all they knew, she could have been some Water Tribe kid who was simply more in touch with his energy than most.

But she'd just revealed that she wasn't simply a non-bender more attune to her own energy than most. Mako probably couldn't guess as to the extent, but the fact that he knew she was quick enough to prevent a collision with his chest was cause for concern.

"What were you doing in there?" Mako asked in a low, monotone voice. He'd felt a sharp spike of energy from the bathroom, muted – obviously by the collar – but still enough for him to sense. It hadn't been enough to be a threat, so he'd waited until Koda had emerged to confront him about it.

"Taking a shower," Koda said in a surprisingly even tone. "I assume that's what you meant when you told me to clean myself up."

"I felt a spike of energy," Mako said bluntly, his amber eyes the colour of embers. "What were you doing?"

Korra hoped she wasn't about to break out into a cold sweat. There was a dangerous edge and intensity to his voice, like a blade of sharpened steel held against her neck.

But Korra was a bender – more specifically, The Avatar– so she was used to thinking fast under pressure.

_'If I lie and say nothing, he'll see right through it,'_ she realised. _'So, I'll go with..._'

"If you must know, I was trying to see if I could get the collar off," she said, shrugging carelessly to cover her unease. "Now are you going to beat me or something in punishment or can I go root around for a blanket?"

Mako simply stared at her for a long moment – so long that tension was beginning to coil in Korra's muscles as she prepared for his response, some kind of reaction from him; possibly violent.

But it never came. Mako simply strode past her into the bathroom, the soft click of the door closing signaling an end to whatever that had been.

Korra arranged the blankets she'd found, making a small nest in the corner, uncomfortably aware of Mako's amber eyes on her. He hadn't said a thing, and the silence was making her edgy.

"So...what am I supposed to do?" she asked after a moment longer. She was fairly sure slaves, if that's even what the captives were, shouldn't be asking their masters anything, but she couldn't take this silent observation anymore.

Mako's expression didn't so much as falter.

"I mean, what work are you going to have me do?" Korra elaborated.

Mako shrugged – a small, economic movement of his shoulders, as though loathed to waste the energy required to do so. "Keep the room clean, keep the gloves I use in good shape and do whatever I tell you to."

Korra turned away to bundle up one of the blankets in something resembling a pillow, rolling her eyes the minute her back was to him.

As though he had been given some invisible, unspoken cue, Mako strode to the door and left the room, pausing only to instruct her not to leave the room as he departed.

Korra had no idea what to make of that, maybe he was going to speak with Amon, but she wasn't about to waste this golden opportunity.

She proceeded to slowly and carefully rummage through Mako's room, meticulously cataloguing what she had access to, just in case. When deep in enemy territory, you never knew what you might need.

It took less time that she had thought it would; Mako's room was large, yes, but rather sparse in terms of furniture and worldly possessions. He had a bed, a closet, and a rack where he kept his Equalist gloves and that was it. His bathroom supplies consisted of soap, shampoo, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

The more Korra looked at it, the more it looked like a guest room. The sort of things you'd take on a camping trip; only the bare necessities, because you weren't going to be there for very long. But then again, Amon moved from base to base every few weeks, so it was probably safe to assume Mako moved with him.

Better to assume that than to tell herself that Mako had only ever intended his allegiance to Amon to be temporary.

Assured that she had made a mental list of everything she might possibly need, and feeling that it was probably late at night, it _was_ hard to tell being underground and all, Korra's snuggled into the blankets she'd set up earlier, her circadian rhythms were demanding she sleep. Mako wasn't back yet, but if he wanted something, he would just have to wake her up!

After one final thought of those whom she'd left behind in Republic City, Korra curled in on herself and shut her eyes, telling herself to rest up before she attempted to escape.


	2. Chapter 2

Cadence Chapter Two: Unyielding

* * *

"Wake up!" came an irritated, snappish voice from above her.

Korra's turquoise eyes flew open and she struggled to sit up in the tangled mess her nest of blankets had become.

"What is it?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes and yawning when she realised there was no immediate threat. "Earthquake and this place is about to cave in? Fire?"

"No," Mako said, in the tone of one talking to mentally handicapped child.

"Damn," Korra muttered, climbing to her feet.

Mako stared at Koda, knowing that he should curb the boy's attitude, yet not really wanting to. In a place where everyone automatically acquiesced to his wishes and practically licked his shoes, it was rather refreshing to have someone talk back to him. It reminded him of...

It reminded him of a time he had sworn never to revisit.

"Follow me," he ordered, striding out the door. "You are to keep two paces behind me at all times."

Korra bristled even as she darted after him, anger swirling in her stomach. If a man had told her to do that back in Republic City, she would have screamed sexist at him and knocked him on his ass. Except here, she was pretending to be a male, so she went with what she could only imagine what Bolin's reaction probably would have been.

"Yes, sir, idiot-sir," she growled.

Mako halted so abruptly it was only her Avatar reflexes that saved Korra from ramming into him.

"What did you call me?" He didn't turn around, but the hairs on the back of Korra's neck prickled all the same.

"Uh...idiot?"

"Don't ever call me that again." His voice was low, but the menace in it was perfectly clear.

"Yes, sir, hothead," Korra said before she could censor it. It was times like these that made her wonder if she had some kind of subconscious death wish.

"Do not call me that, either!" Mako practically snarled.

He turned to face Koda only when he was sure his expression was controlled and indifferent. Hearing Koda toss out Bolin's favourite nicknames for him had made his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Okay...so what should I call you?" Koda asked, apparently not perturbed in the slightest that he had irritated someone who possessed complete control over his life.

The more Mako saw of the boy's composure, the more certain the fire bender became that it wasn't a product of ignorance, but confidence. The sort of bone-deep confidence that very few people possessed, and then only with good reason.

Considering Koda was a slave in an underground Equalist base, Mako was rather curious what he was so confident about.

Korra huffed a little as Mako proceeded to ignore her question. Well, what did she expect? She was technically his slave, and a rather free one at that – she doubted she'd be getting away with this kind of behaviour if anyone else was her master, but Mako just didn't seem to care.

She kept her silence after that, following him through the maze of hallways until they emerged in some sort of cafeteria. Being an Equalist base, it looked almost eerily normal...until she noticed that those eating were dressed in brown clothes and wearing leather collars, and they were guarded by men built like komodo rhino who wielded thin, wicked-looking whips.

Korra noted that there were no women among the guards. But then again, she had the impression there weren't many women in the Equalist faction full stop; she hadn't seen one female in Equalist garb since she'd been brought here.

Unsure of exactly what they were doing there, she sent a questioning glance in Mako's direction.

He responded with a nod at the room in general and a curt, "Eat."

Korra shuffled into the throng, feeling uncertain but assumed this area was where the slaves took their meals. She took an apple, a banana and an orange from the selection, grateful that Amon seemed to understand that well-fed slaves were better than starved, malnourished ones – at the very least, they could do more work.

She sat at one of the rough wooden benches, quietly munching her fruit and trying to keep her head down. It worked up until one of the guards began hassling a slave for spilling some of the porridge he had been offered. With a start, Korra realised it was the boy she'd traveled with, the one who'd addressed her when they'd first been collared and ushered into the tunnels.

It might have been the fact that she knew this boy, however dimly. It might have been the fact that her nature was such that she despised seeing anyone bullied. Whatever the reason, Korra found herself standing and darting with such haste that only the Avatar could posses across the room before her mind could even raise an objection.

As the whip whistled towards the boy, Korra extended her arm, catching the blow. The whip left a prominent welt across her wrist, but Korra didn't care – it was nothing compared to some of the injuries she'd suffered in the past, and she was more worried about the young boy before her. He was gazing down at the remnants of his breakfast, and looked as though he were trying not to cry.

"Come on, kid, you're probably better off not eating that slop," Korra told him, trying to bolster his spirits. "How about some fruit? I've got a nice, juicy apple..."

For his part, Mako was a little surprised. He'd seen the boy stumble, and had deliberately looked away, setting his jaw against the prickling of his conscience to aid him, he'd heard the whip come down but there had been no answering cry of pain. He'd turned to find Koda with his arm slung companionably over the boy's shoulders, guiding him back to a bench under the baleful glare of the guard. Mako's keen eyes picked up the bright red welt that wrapped around Koda's wrist and forearm, the obvious mark of a whip.

But Koda hadn't so much as whimpered. And Mako knew you had to have a high pain threshold to remain silent when a whip caught you.

Just further evidence that this slave was not what all that he appeared to be.

"Mistake..." came a quiet whisper from Mako's left.

Mako's eyes cut in that direction. A man was leaning against the wall a short distance from him, his eyes on Koda. Mako recognised the man; Zhao was a professional slave-taker, the Equalists finest, in fact. He was usually in charge of every slave-taking trip, however occasionally less experienced lackeys were sent to out to find potential slaves.

As demonstrated by the family they took – an experienced slaver would never have attacked a group with children. Children could do little, and cost much in terms of food and shelter to raise.

But Mako was curious as to why taking Koda had been a mistake. The boy was physically fit, and while he clearly had some bending potential, the collar kept him rather subdued.

"How?" he asked.

The man blinked, and it was then Mako realised he had no idea he'd spoken aloud. "Your pardon, Master Mako?"

"Why was taking the boy a mistake?"

Zhao paled. "I-I...it is not my place to question my Master Mako's choice..."

Mako quelled the urge to roll his eyes. Honestly, with all this simpering and pandering going on about him, was it any wonder he found Koda's less-than-subtle defiance refreshing?

"You said 'mistake'," he went on, a threat clear in his voice.

Seeming to understand that further refusal to elaborate would anger Mako, Zhao went on. "You're right, I do not think it was wise to take the boy. When my master first taught me this business, one of the things he most emphasised was how to spot one who is 'unyielding'."

'_Unyielding_' the word whispered in Mako's mind. "Explain," he snapped.

"One who is unyielding can be recognised by a thousand things," the man continued. "The way they move, the way they speak, they way they interact with those who have power over them. They can be of any age, gender or origin, but there is one quality they have in common – the stubborn, unbreakable will that earns them the name 'the unyielding'. They do not submit in the way other slaves will; their spirits do not, _will not_, be broken. They can be beaten, whipped, raped, starved, chained; it doesn't not matter what you do to them, they will die before they are broken."

Mako stared at Koda as the dark-haired boy bit into a piece of his orange with gusto, still chatting amiably to the child next to him.

"You may gain their obedience, but it is nothing but a shallow reflection," Zhao continued. "They may do as you say, but their minds will always be consumed by thoughts of escape or revenge or both. I know you are strong, Master Mako, but watch your slave closely or he may slit your throat as you sleep."

* * *

Korra slid the cleaning cloth down the length of the electrified kali sticks, before testing it against her thumb. It singed her skin with barely more than a whisper of pressure, and she grinned, healing the slight burn with a flicker of energy. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing; Mako had gone off to train with Amon, instructing her to maintain his weapons in his absence.

It was an easy enough job; Korra suspected that, as slaves went, her position was a rather cushy one.

She set the kali sticks aside, the last of the weapons she'd been ordered to work on, and surveyed her finished work with more than a touch of satisfaction.

In fact, now that she'd finished, maybe she could have a bit more of a look around the base. She couldn't escape yet; there were too many people in the corridors during the daylight hours, at least, she assumed these were the daylight hours, someone was certain to see her and stop her if she tried to slip out of the base. Her escape would either have to take place at night or she would have to create some sort of diversion during the day.

Frankly, Korra preferred the idea of sneaking out at night, because a diversion added all new layers of complications.

So, while she wouldn't try escaping, there was no reason she couldn't wander the base a bit, map it out in her mind...

Korra opened the door and walked straight into Mako.

"What is it with you and hanging around in doorways?" she grumbled, scooting backwards to allow him to enter the room.

"You're stupid," was all Mako said.

"Oh, yeah? Since when were you a walking IQ test?"

"I told you to stay in the room. You were in the process of leaving the room. You could not understand a simple command."

"I didn't misunderstand it, I chose to disobey it," Korra clarified. "Big difference."

Mako's eyes narrowed suddenly, dangerously, and Korra had to fight the urge to take several steps backwards. "Including the difference between being considered stupid and being beaten for disobedience?"

Mako could admit that he found the idea of inflicting pain on Koda rather distasteful – he'd never been one for deliberate torture – but he wanted to see if the threat would cow him.

Korra silently ran through every swear word she could think of in her mind, but it did little to help. The entire point of using swearwords was to say them aloud; thinking them didn't give them quite the same punch.

But since she'd played this hand, she might as well stick it out to the bitter end, see how far Mako was willing to let her go...

"If you think the threat of a little pain is going to stop me, you've severely underestimated me," she said quietly.

Mako stared down at Koda and found himself thinking he was rather short for a male. But the height difference didn't seem to intimidate him, nor did the menacing aura that Mako had deliberately projected or the threat of violence. The boy simply stared straight into his face, his jaw set, green eyes blazing with determination...

The sight rang a dull bell in the back of Mako's mind. He stared into Koda's unsettling turquoise eyes, unable to shake the feeling he had seen them before, that he had seen this expression before...

Then the boy blinked and it was lost, a phantom of memory flitting away through Mako's mind.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice soft but as deadly as a scorpion bee's sting.

A hint of fear entered Koda's eyes, and Mako found his already prominent curiosity about the slave deepening. Threats didn't scare him, but he practically panicked whenever Mako inquired about his identity?

"You have bending potential," the fire bender continued ruthlessly, watching Koda's eyes for any hint that he was hitting close to the truth. "You are a bender, most likely from either of the Water Tribes, though I suppose that Republic City and The Earth Kingdom are also a possibility."

Korra hoped her nervous, gulping swallow wasn't as audible as it felt. "You're bluffing; you have no idea if I'm a bender or not, let alone where I'm from."

Mako smirked and stepped past her into the room. Korra scowled at his back as he inspected the weapons she'd been ordered to maintain. It was hard to tell whether he was pleased or not, but he wasn't criticizing her work, and she supposed that was the best she could hope for.

"Come," he ordered abruptly, turning and striding into the corridor.

The one-word commands were really starting to irritate Korra; she wasn't a Polar bear dog for Spirits sake!

But she followed obediently, practically jogging to keep up with his rapid pace. "Where are we going?"

Mako didn't answer. Korra huffed grumpily to herself and didn't ask again.

So when they walked into a large room in which Amon was feasting at a long table laden with gourmet dishes, Korra couldn't have been more surprised. She knew, logically, that since Mako was being trained, she assumed, by Amon he would spend a lot of time with the leader of the Equalist faction, but she hadn't really been prepared for it.

Korra silently cursed the collar around her neck; with her bending restricted, it was hard to sense the presence of others, and so she kept getting nasty surprises like this all the time.

"Ah, Mako," Amon smiled, and Korra suppressed a shiver.

Korra couldn't begin to fathom what madness drove Mako to believe Amon was a better prospect, but it sent a pang of pain through her chest, so she made an effort not to dwell on it.

Mako took a seat at the table and began to eat without so much as looking at Amon. Uncertain as to what she was supposed to do, Korra stood behind Mako's chair, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground. She wasn't stupid; she knew showing Amon any of the defiance she'd been showing Mako would probably get her killed.

"Any problems with your slave?" the Equalist asked.

Mako shot him a withering glance and then bent his head to his plate again.

"What about you, boy?" Something in Mako coiled as Amon addressed Koda. If the boy was stupid...

Korra said nothing, she simply glanced at Amon then lowered her head again.

"Nothing to say?" Amon inquired, his voice venomous.

Korra dropped her head a little farther, hoping the show of submission would mollify him.

He laughed. "Why, Mako, I do believe you've picked yourself a mute!"

Mako hid a smirk. It seemed Koda had stronger survival instincts than he'd first thought. At the very least, the boy seemed to recognise that Amon would by no means tolerate what Mako did.

Mako concentrated on finishing his meal, only barely listening as Amon detailed the afternoon's training plan, wanting to be out of the Equalist's presence as soon as possible. When he'd finished, he stood up from the table and exited the room, without bothering to excuse himself.

He'd learned early on that he didn't actually have to show Amon much respect; after all, Amon needed him more than he needed Amon.

Koda shadowed him out of the room, every inch the perfect submissive slave until the door closed behind them.

"Jeez, creepy much?" the boy commented, throwing a baleful glare over his shoulder.

Mako smirked.

* * *

That night, Mako carefully inspected the weapons he'd had Koda clean before he replaced them on the racks. He'd given them a cursory inspection before he'd had to leave for his daily lunch with Amon, but all that brief glance had done was assure him Koda hadn't completely destroyed them. Now that he had the time to sit down and properly examine them, he realised that they had been cleaned by the hands of an expert. This was no fumbling civilian going on third-hand rumour of how to take care of weapons; these had been handled by someone well-used to taking care of such weapons.

Combined with Koda's energy-suppressing collar, his near-fearlessness in the face of threat of physical pain and the way he'd reacted when Mako had mentioned that he might be a bender, his suspicion that Koda was a bender of some sort could now be considered fact.

"Where are you from?" he asked abruptly.

"Nice try," Koda volleyed back from where he was sorting through Mako's closet.

"Family?"

Koda shot a suspicious look over his shoulder, Mako only seeing a flash of irate turquoise before the boy turned back to his task. He didn't like those eyes, those damnable turquoise eyes that nagged at his mind like a physical itch.

Korra, for her part, wondered at Mako's newfound chattiness. Maybe he was lonely...

Some part of her screamed that he should be; that it was nothing less than what he deserved. She cared for him, yes, but it was hard to snuff out the childish voice of her wounded heart, screaming that he had hurt her and that he should pay for having done so.

But all the anger in the world didn't dull the pain of it.

Korra shook her head, firmly pushing aside those kind of depressive thoughts and resumed clearing Mako's closet.

"Will anyone be looking for you?"

Korra snorted. "You have no idea."

But even assuming he was lonely, why pick his slave to try to socialise with? But then again, from what Korra had seen, she was probably the only person around who didn't pander to him. No matter how antisocial a person claimed to be, it was human nature to seek out companionship. And in right now, Korra, or Koda, as he knew her, was probably the closest he was going to get.

Mako was smirking as though her response amused him somehow. Korra squashed the urge to hurl one of his own weapons at him and instead sat back to survey her finished work. The closet wasn't sparkling clean, but it was neat.

"Okay, I've tidied your closet; can I go to sleep now?"

Mako shrugged. Korra took that as permission to curl up in her pile of blankets and close her eyes.

But she didn't go to sleep. Instead she waited. She waited as Mako read through a few pages of a book. She waited while he went through the requisite bathroom routine. She waited as the light in the room went out, and Mako's breathing slowly assumed the deep, even rhythms of sleep.

And then Korra rose from her makeshift bed, creeping towards the door with every particle of stealth she possessed.

_'Softly, softly, softly,'_ she chanted it in her mind like a mantra. _'Softly, softly, softly...'_

She wasn't about to underestimate Mako's senses, even when he was asleep, something told her that the current environment would encourage hair-trigger reflexes even in slumber, but since she wouldn't be approaching the bed or anything so foolish, she thought she might have a chance to get away with it.

She slowly eased the door open, ever vigilant for any sound from the bed that might signal Mako's awakening. But his breathing didn't so much as hitch.

She gave one last cursory glance into the room she'd just exited, some part of her urging her to remain but she knew it was foolish. Each day that passed in the Equalist base made it more likely that Mako would discover her disguise; he'd already figured out that she was capable of bending and she'd only been here for two days! What would he do when he discovered who she really was?

She knew what she wanted him to do, but she knew just as well that he would probably do something very different. Mako had made it clear that she and Bolin were no longer considered an important part of her life; he would probably kill her, or hand her over to Amon for a fate worse than death.

Korra shivered at the prospect. She had to leave, or she'd be facing death. And not just physical death; she knew it would kill something inside her if Mako ever truly committed that final betrayal. And if Bolin ever found out it would ruin him.

Mako had done nothing to deserve her devotion and loyalty. He had done everything he could to rid himself of them, but Bolin was a different story. He was the brother she'd never had, as Asami was the sister she'd never had; complete with sibling rivalry.

So she'd leave Mako, and go back to the people who she knew loved her as much as she loved them.

Korra closed the door softly behind her, the solid darkness in the room meaning she was never alerted when Mako opened his eyes, and silently watched her leave.

At the sound of voices, Korra darted into a side-passage, pressing herself against the wall in the hopes she might go unnoticed.

She'd found that the underground base did have a day and night. During the 'day' all the torches along the walls were lit, filling every room and corridor with light. Not as bright as that above ground, of course, but bright enough so that you barely noticed you were below the surface.

Night seemed a different story. Now, every third torch was lit, filling the corridors with shadows and plunging the base into a sort of half-light.

Korra wondered why they weren't using electricity, but supposed the power source and generator needed for such power might be used to detect the base's location. She didn't see how; couldn't they build it underground, perhaps?

The Equalists, guards, most likely, passed her by, and Korra slunk back into the corridor, consulting her faultless memory to re-trace her steps to the entrance she'd been hustled in from.

She felt like her senses were heightened to breaking point as she crept down the many corridors, alert for the slightest breath of sound, the barest flicker of something at the periphery of her vision...

So when she heard soft footsteps from both ends of the corridor, both sets converging on her, Korra had time to prepare for the inevitable confrontation. She hadn't brought a weapon from Mako's room because she knew it wouldn't have done her any good in a confrontation with a guard, she would have to bluff her way out of trouble, not fight. With the collar on, she put no faith in her combative abilities, she might win against some of the more mundane Equalist lackeys, but she doubted she'd then have the energy she needed to get far enough away from the base so that any hunting parties couldn't recapture her, and she was fairly certain that a slave carrying a weapon would look a lot more suspicious than a slave just walking alone down a corridor at night.

The footsteps came closer, and Korra struggled to act calm, to stroll down the corridor as though she belonged there, as though this was what she had been instructed to do. If she recalled correctly, there was a storeroom along here somewhere; she'd gotten her blankets from it, as it held mainly cloth and weapons, so maybe she could say she'd been sent to fetch some extra sheets or something...

When the pair of guards she was walking towards came into sight, Korra did her best to look surprised. But she made no effort to speak to them, instead dropping her eyes and moving to the side like a good slave should.

But apparently the guards weren't about to let her move past them uncontested.

"Slave, why are you wandering the corridors?" the taller of the two barked, his hand resting on the hilt of a thin blade.

"I was instructed to get a blanket from the storeroom...masters," Korra replied, keeping her voice as meek as she could make it, only just remembering to tack the word 'masters' on to the end of her sentence. After all, that was what slaves did, right?

"Really?" The shorter man gave her a cold, assessing glance that Korra didn't like. "Perhaps we should accompany you..."

Korra's first thought was that they were going to sexually assault her. Then she remembered she was masquerading as a boy. She then told herself not to discount the whole sexual assault motive just because they thought she was a boy; sure, it might have been less likely, statistically speaking, but it could still happen.

The taller man groaned. "Come on, Zhao, our shift's nearly over."

The man called Zhao said nothing, merely watched her with fixed, unblinking eyes. "Get moving, slave."

Korra gritted her teeth as she moved down the corridor to the storeroom door barely five metres in front of her. She went in, snatched the first blanket she could find, and trotted out, hoping that the guards watching her were imbeciles, that they would take this simple act as proof she had been truthful.

Zhao simply nodded, then gestured back down the corridor. "Now let's see you take it back to your master, boy. You're Master Mako's slave, aren't you?"

She'd been hoping for a Neanderthal, and instead she got a man who seemed a bit too clever for his own good. Korra wasn't too sure about her views on the Spirits, but she was certain something was conspiring against her.

As she retraced her steps down the hallways, she tried to think about what she could say when she opened the door to Mako's room when her 'escorts' found that he was still asleep and had probably never ordered her to do anything.

She was still in deep thought when they rounded the corner and started down the final corridor to Mako's room. When she saw the light shining from beneath the door, she seriously considered just knocking the guards' heads into the wall and making a run for it. If there was light in there it meant that Mako was awake, and if Mako was awake it meant he was aware she'd gone and was probably even now strapping on his weapons to go looking for her, however if she knocked on the door with an armful of blanket and a pair of Equalist guards flanking her...

It was safe to say that Korra wasn't looking forward to that confrontation, mainly because she had a feeling it would result in extreme and immediate pain for her shortly afterwards.

She was about to make her move, when Zhao stepped in front of her and knocked sharply on the door. And while Korra knew she might have had a chance at subduing these two if she caught them surprise, she knew there was absolutely no chance she could take out Mako, not with the collar on. So, she'd just have to play her cards right.

The door cracked open, one impassive amber eye peering through the gap.

"What is it?" Mako asked Zhao. But Korra could hear the unspoken 'you had better have a damn good reason for disturbing me' in his tone.

As she watched, his eyes slid past the Equalists and rested on her. Korra stiffened as he registered the blanket, the expression that she just knew looked furtive in spite of her best efforts and braced herself for whatever his reaction was going to be; all she knew was that it would be ugly.

"About time," Mako scoffed. "Get in here."

It took Korra a few moments to realise that Mako had addressed her. Not knowing why he seemed to be giving her a free pass but by no means turning it down, she moved past Zhao and slid into the room as Mako cracked the door a fraction wider to let her in.

"Now; what did you want?" Mako addressed Zhao, his voice dripping with venom.

"We found your slave wandering the corridors and simply wanted to ensure he was doing so on your orders," Zhao said, his voice seemingly calm, Korra knew however that he was probably hoping Mako wouldn't kill him for disturbing his slumber.

"Hn." Mako shut the door in their faces, rudely dismissing them and leaving two very relieved guards to return to their duties, unharmed.

Mako turned back to Koda, who was clutching the blanket and eyeing him as though he were some sort of volatile chemical reaction, one that the slightest touch could set off.

When Mako had woken just in time to see the boy slipping out the door, his first thought had been to charge after him. He'd risen, lit the lamp, and had actually seized his kali sticks before he abruptly decided to let Koda go. Mako had never liked the concept of slavery in the first place, and if Koda had the guts to attempt an escape from one of Amon's fortresses then Mako felt the boy had earned his freedom.

He had just decided to go back to sleep and pretend ignorance of Koda's escape until the morning, when his keen hearing had caught the sound of footsteps outside his door.

Mako had barely cracked the door open so whom ever had knocked wouldn't be able to see that Koda's nest of blankets was conspicuously vacant, only to be confronted with Koda himself, clutching a blanket and hemmed by two guards.

It had taken Mako only a moment to realise that Koda must have been caught, and had obviously claimed to be on some sort of errand; apparently, the boy could think fast when he needed to.

If Koda had groveled or tried to appeal to him, Mako might have done something very different. But as it was, the turquoise-eyed boy had just stood there, looking both nervous and resigned, as though he wasn't sure of what was coming, but knew it was bad.

And, almost before he thought about it, Mako had found himself playing along. It had been nice to have someone who rolled their eyes at him without worrying about what he would do to them for having done so; Someone who snapped back at him instead of taking his orders with a nod and a false smile.

He stared at Koda for a moment, then kicked his boots off and laid his kali sticks beside his bed before dousing the lamp and climbing under the covers.

He heard a soft rustling sound in the darkness that told him Koda, too, was settling in for the night.

No one spoke.

* * *

Korra reflected that she and Mako seemed to have reached some sort of silent agreement. Neither of them talked of Koda's attempted escape, and neither of them had spoken of the way Mako had covered for her.

But Korra thought about it. She thought about it often.

What had possessed Mako to try to cover for her? He didn't owe her anything so why had he done that? If it had been anyone else, she would have said it was out of compassion or the goodness of his or her heart or something along those lines but she hadn't seen a lot of evidence for the goodness of Mako's heart lately. He was so focused on whatever it was he was doing for or with Amon that it seemed he'd blocked out everything but that single obsession.

Sure, he'd probably manage to achieve whatever it was that he was working towards, one day, but after that, then what would Mako do?

Korra hated that the notion bothered her. He was the one who had abandoned them, he was the one who had tossed them aside, defected from his country, gone against benders, one of which he was; so why did she find it so impossible to do the same to him?

With a sigh and a weary shake of her head, Korra reaffirmed her vow to escape from Amon's clutches as soon as possible; all this time with Mako was making her contemplate things she really had no desire to contemplate. Heartbreak was a wound that never truly healed, but it would probably get a little better if she stopped poking at it and prodding at it.

Korra sat down in the slave's eating area, this time sticking close to the wall and Mako; she wasn't about to get involved in an altercation again, not with the same guard that had escorted her back to Mako's room standing there. That Zhao man was leaning against the wall, watching her with his unblinking, snake-like stare, and she had a feeling he was just looking for an excuse.

"I know you," a woman next to her said slowly.

Korra turned around and did her best not to yelp in alarm. She knew this woman, too; this was one of the healers in the village she'd aided. Kana, she thought it was. She remembered a brief conversation in which the woman had announced an intention to visit her family in another village as soon as the disease was under control; she must have been grabbed on the road, then.

But Kana had only known her for a few weeks, she couldn't recognise her from that, could she? Mako had known her for years and he didn't seem to have the slightest suspicion she wasn't anything but what she appeared to be: a dark-haired, tanned skinned boy.

But then again Mako hadn't been one to pay much attention in the way of physical appearance. His only contact with her in the last year or so had been their confrontation, in which he hadn't shown a whole lot of interest in her at all. So maybe Kana had a better idea of what she looked like now, and actually could see through her disguise.

"Aren't you the man that helped that boy?" the former healer went on, voice full of admiration.

Korra tried not to give an audible sigh of relief. As it turned out, Kana only recognised her from yesterday, not the village. She didn't know her as the Avatar who'd healed the sick, she knew her as the slave who'd had the guts to intervene between a guard and another slave.

Which, now that she thought about it, had been kind of stupid. Sure, the guard hadn't actually done anything about it except glare, probably couldn't be bothered, but if he'd decided to press the issue, Korra knew she'd have been in trouble.

"Have you been here for long?" Kana asked, sounding sympathetic.

"Not too long," Korra said honestly. "I was on my way home when I got grabbed."

She became aware that, though Mako still held his practiced expression of disinterest, he was listening intently to their conversation.

"Me, too," Kana smiled. "I was a healer, you see. I couldn't leave the village I worked in for months because there was an outbreak. Eventually, we appealed to Republic City for help and they sent a none other than the Avatar to help us."

Korra could sense Mako stiffen, she silently cursed Kana's conversational streak.

"It was amazing, really. I always thought she could do nothing but fight, I never knew she could heal, too! Although," Kana reflected, "I doubt there are any healers here."

Korra nodded.

"She left a little before I did. I hope she didn't get caught as well. She did seem rather exhausted..."

_'If only you knew, Kana,'_ Korra thought. _'If only you knew.'_

"Koda!" Mako barked. "Come!"

Korra shot to her feet with an apologetic glance at Kana and hurried after Mako as he left the food hall. Again with the one-word commands; she was not a Polar bear dog!

Mako told himself he wasn't hurrying along the corridors, per se, he was just moving quickly.

And it had absolutely nothing to do with what he'd just overheard. Absolutely nothing.

He yanked open a heavy metal door and descended down a set of winding stairs, hearing Koda scrambling after him.

"What's going on?" the boy hissed. "Where in the flameo are we going?"

"The cells," he snapped. "Now shut up!"

"Jeez, someone needs to cool their head…"

Mako ignored him as the stairs opened out into a dark, cold corridor lined with cages. He strode past them, dark eyes searching through them like child sifting through dirt to find a lost marble.

He didn't even know why he was doing this, not really. But since the woman had mentioned that the Avatar might have been captured he knew he needed to see if she had spoken the truth. There had been no flash of long chocolate locks in the food hall, so he had descended to the cells.

The more he walked, the more his stomach twisted. He hadn't seen Korra in weeks, hadn't had any true interaction with her in months and yet, the thought of her imprisoned in here; easy prey for the men who lived here, fodder for Amon's whims, was sickening.

He reached the end of the corridor and threw open the heavy door to the interrogation room. The prisoners kept in these cells were those that were to be 'persuaded' to relinquish information. Korra was the Avatar, it went without saying that Amon would have ordered her to be interrogated.

But the room and the tiny adjoining cages were empty.

Mako hissed through his teeth.

"What are we looking for?" Mako asked curiously. "I mean, I presume you're looking for something, with the way you're stomping around and growling under your breath..."

Mako turned. "When you were with the other slaves, did you ever see a woman with long chocolate brown hair?"

Koda blinked, the movement almost invisible in the near-darkness that shrouded the dungeons. "No; why?"

Mako pushed past him and retraced his steps out of the prison cells.

Korra breathed a silent sigh of relief at the fact the darkness had concealed the shocked look she knew must have decorated her face and followed him.

Mako was looking for her?

Mako, for his part, was silently running through all the possible options that could befall a slave under Amon's control. He'd checked the food hall, the prison cells, the interrogation room…

Mako grimaced as he realised there was another option. Korra was beautiful enough to have been claimed by one of the elites as their exclusive slave, the way Koda was for him. Except that Mako knew most people under the direct command of Amon made sexual use of their personal slave.

Like a polar leopard on the trail of a wounded tiger seal, he went to the elites' quarters, kicking in the first door he could find.

A woman cried out and cringed away, but her hair was black, not brown. The next room held a blonde with bruises around her wrists. The next one held a man.

Mako went through the elite barracks like a raging fire, kicking in each and every door but there was no Korra to be found.

"Can I ask why you were kicking doors in?" Koda piped up as they left. The boy sounded a little shaken; probably a product of what they'd seen in those rooms. "Or is that not allowed?"

Mako glared at him and did not reply.

At least he had established that Korra wasn't in the grasp of Amon and his Equalists. She had probably escaped from the slavers, or they'd never caught her in the first place.

Or she was dead, but Mako found that train of thought strangely unsettling, so he didn't dwell on it. Still, something in him relaxed at the idea that Korra was not a slave in this fortress.

Mako strode back to his room, never realising that his turquoise-eyed slave was shooting him some very strange looks.


	3. Chapter 3

Cadence Chapter Three: Misgiving

* * *

"I thought have learned by now to walk in the opposite direction whenever you see him," Mako mused, leaning up against the bathroom door frame.

"I did walk in the opposite direction," Korra insisted from the bathroom, her voice alternating between blocked and nasal to normal pitch and rhythm as she tried pinching her nose to stop the bleeding.

Since having been imprisoned, she'd attempted to escape a total of three times. The second time, she'd heard someone coming and, having learned from her previous escape attempt, simply made her way back to Mako's room as quickly as possible, sliding through the door barely a corridor ahead of the patrolling guards.

And just like before, Mako had said nothing. Korra still couldn't figure out why.

The third time she'd been almost out of, wherever it was this base was located, entirely; she'd actually been opening the door of the hidden entrance she'd been hustled in through, ready to run back to Republic City when Zhao and another guard had emerged from a nearby storeroom. Korra had suspicions they'd been drinking sake or sneaking extra helpings of cotton candy, she was sure they had been doing something they shouldn't, and had seen her.

Korra had been rather frightened at the idea that they might report her attempted escape to Amon, only to have her fears proved groundless; at least in that matter. Slaves tried to escape so often that it was up to the guards who caught them to administer punishment.

So Zhao and his friend had simply given Korra what she thought could truly run for the worst beating of her life.

It had been difficult to take, not only because she had been making an effort not to scream and give those sadists some sort of satisfaction, but also because she had been trying not to fight back, as she normally would have. With the collar on, it was debatable whether or not she'd actually have won the fight but if she'd broken out some bender moves, Zhao was certain to become more suspicious of her than he already was.

So, though it took more willpower than Korra had ever thought she possessed, she'd laid passively on the floor while she was kicked around like a beach ball. She vaguely recalled someone kicking her head into a wall before the whole world went fuzzy.

She'd awoken alone in the corridor, lying on the floor with a small, sticky pool of blood haloed around her head. She had taken slow, careful inventory of her injuries, noting that her temple was dripping blood, her left cheekbone was most likely broken, her nose was bleeding and her probing tongue had found a split lip in addition to two very loose teeth.

Her right arm had come up to cover her head at some point in time, and had subsequently been broken by a sharp kick. With every breath she took she winced; her ribs ached, so believed she could safely assume a few of them were broken as well.

Her body had felt strangely numb; as though she had been in so much pain her brain simply couldn't register it. Her mind had had clouded over and she vaguely admitted it was a miracle she hadn't sustained brain damage.

Somehow, Korra couldn't quite recall how, she'd mustered enough energy to force her fingers to repair the damage her head had taken and take care of any internal bleeding. And then she'd passed out again.

She'd come to again feeling a little better, but still aching and strangely numb. Ignoring the dizziness brought on by the collar, she'd performed a some more healing, this time repairing her broken arm and ribs and setting her loose teeth. She had been able to heal the broken bones completely, though she hadn't been able to do anything about the bruised muscle and tissue around them. For a moment, she'd thought she was going to pass out again, but after a few moments of grey nothingness closing in on her vision, she had found the strength to hitch herself into a standing position before slowly, painfully, hobbling back to Mako's room.

She had been seriously considering just curling up in a ball of misery beneath her blankets and attempting to sink into unconsciousness, but Mako was already awake by the time she'd returned. Apparently in the time it took her to regain consciousness, both the first and the second time, most of the 'night' had passed.

"Do you think you need medical attention?" Mako asked, his voice drifting into the bathroom, breaking her train of thought.

"If you mean that creepy guy with goggles then no, I don't need medical attention."

Korra almost wanted to laugh at how she sounded. The combination of a nose blocked with blood and a split lip made for interesting speech.

But she was being perfectly honest; there was no way she was letting the Lieutenant anywhere near her.

Mako shrugged as Koda came out of the bathroom, noting how the young man limped past him, face smeared with blood from his ongoing nosebleed.

Mako was inwardly amazed that Koda had been able to make his way back to the room. He looked like he'd been trampled by a herd of camelphant; his right arm was a mass of blotchy black and blue bruises, Mako was genuinely surprised it wasn't broken, and his hunched, shuffling walk told the fire bender that still, more injuries were concealed beneath the brown clothes he was clad with.

Koda had said enough for Mako to know that Zhao was the one who'd beaten him, and the news had neither surprised nor shocked him. He knew incidences were commonplace; slaves were beaten everyday for trying to escape, some far more severely than Koda, and yet it still didn't sit right with him. Koda's slight limp when he walked and mottled skin were unsettling in more ways than one; perhaps because he could finally put a face to the Equalist's cruelty, perhaps because it seemed so incredibly petty to beat someone at such a clear disadvantage, either way, it made him feel uncomfortable and restless, as though he should be doing something about it.

'_But what?'_

Koda had tried to escape, and had been disciplined accordingly. It was the way things worked.

Mako told himself that, trying ever so hard to ignore the whisperings of his conscience.

* * *

The next day was worse. Much worse. All of Korra's bruises and torn muscles had become stiff and swollen; she could barely roll out of her pile of blankets. She needed to rely on the support of the wall to stand.

Mako took one look at Koda, now resplendent in purple, blue and even black bruises, struggling to stand upright, and knew there was no way the boy could follow him throughout the base as he usually did. He could try, but he'd probably end up collapsed in a heap by noon.

"Stay here." The left his lips before he could stop himself.

"Really?" Koda looked as though he was seriously contemplating worshiping him.

"Don't do anything," Mako went on. "I don't want you fumbling around and damaging things."

Koda practically fell back into the pile of blankets. "No problem. I can do nothing. That sounds like a nice thing to do."

"Hn," Mako smirked and exited the room.

Korra waited for his footsteps to fade, wondering at his show of kindness. But no matter how nice he was being with her, she needed him far away for what she was about to do.

She needed to mop up most of the damage if she didn't want to be bedridden for days; she didn't feel safe if she wasn't at least healthy enough to attempt another escape. Illogical, yes, but she just felt that this wasn't the best place to be ill or incapacitated in. Korra knew Mako would be suspicious if he returned and all her injuries were magically healed, so she needed to somehow take care of her injuries without sacrificing their appearance. In other words, she needed to mend the bruised or damaged muscles, while leaving the skin itself untouched.

It would be difficult, but Korra was cautiously optimistic about it. And as Mako's footsteps finally vanished, she went to work. Entering the bathroom she turned on the tap, slowly and cautiously channeling the water into her right arm, healing the strained muscles and tendons she'd been unable to deal with the night before.

It took longer than she'd expected, mostly because the collar limited her power, often causing her to cease healing before she fainted, and so she had to heal herself in a jerky 'stop start' fashion rather than in one continuous session. In fact, by the time Korra determined she had done all she could safely do, she was startled to realise she had spent hours in a healing trance; there was no clock but she could tell by the way the lamp had burned down.

Glancing in the mirror to check that she still looked battered and bruised, which she did, Korra turned off the water and exited the bathroom. She made her way over to her pile of blankets and crawled on in, determined to sleep for the rest of the day. Her stomach was grumbling rather insistently, but she'd gone on political missions where she'd been unable to eat for days, so this was nothing.

And at the moment, her exhaustion far outweighed her hunger.

"Hey, wake up."

Korra turned over, jolted from her sleep to see Mako sitting on the edge of the bed next to where she lay. "I love your wake-up calls," she said sarcastically. "They're so gentle and considerate."

"I bought you some dinner," he said softly, flicking his head at the tray resting just inside the door.

"You're forgiven!" Korra pronounced, scrambling upright, making sure to keep her movements ginger, halting as though her muscles were still stiff and tender.

Breakfast was a communal thing, at least on her part, Mako always awoke before her and she'd not once seen him eat breakfast. Mako took lunch with Amon and dinner was brought to his room; and since Korra had begun to serve him as his exclusive slave, there had been two dinners delivered.

Korra reached for her plate and began to scoff down her food. She could always tell which meal was hers, and while it couldn't be called sparse, she was never given as large a helping as Mako's was and her dinner was always free of side-dishes and sauces.

Mako ignored her hurried devouring and proceeded to eat very neatly and cleanly, but that wasn't new. Mako had always been surprisingly fastidious in table manner, despite his lack of upbringing.

"You're looking more mobile," he commented blandly.

"You'd be surprised what a day of rest can do," Korra smirked.

* * *

Mako rested the back of his head against the cold stone, drawing in deep gulps of air as sweat slid over his skin, feeling a sort of triumph as his muscles ached and burned. He'd pushed himself to the very limit today.

Koda held out a glass of cool water, which Mako took and drained before tossing it back to him. Under normal circumstances, the dark-haired boy would have made some remark, but with Amon and the Lieutenant still present in the arena, he was playing mute again.

Mako didn't think Koda had so much as sighed in Amon's presence during the entirety of his imprisonment.

"We are moving soon, Mako," the head of the Equalist Faction informed him. "Pack your things; we head out tomorrow."

Mako nodded vaguely, and Amon and the Lieutenant left the arena.

To Korra's great relief; she had little interaction with them, but she didn't like having them around. They were sadistic psychopaths, who would?

"Does that include me, or do I get another job now?" she asked, fiddling with the empty cup.

"That includes you," Mako answered.

"No offense, but I think you're short a few marbles to want to be mentored by that guy," she muttered as they left the underground arena and moved towards Mako's room.

Mako glanced at Koda, wondering at what seemed like a hint of bitterness in the slave's voice. "I need to become powerful; he is simply the path to that power."

"If you say so..." Korra muttered.

Mako couldn't help wondering about the slightly hurt tone Koda seemed to take when he spoke of Amon and Mako's alliance with the Equalists. After all, why should a slave care what he did?

Just one more mystery to add to the growing pile that involved the boy.

On another note, Koda's bruises had finally vanished, though he had healed from Zhao's beating in a surprisingly short amount of time.

"Master Mako!" someone called from behind them. "Master Mako!"

Mako stopped, half-turning as he waited for the man who had been calling after him to catch up with him.

"I made inquiries about a chocolate-haired woman, as you instructed," the man said, and Korra had to work to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. "And one of the slaving groups dispatched recently mentioned that they'd been apprehending a family of travelers when a dark haired woman wearing water tribe insignia, intervened. In the ensuing fight, she fell into the river and was swept downstream. They pursued, but found him-" he nodded at Koda "-instead, and so took him to fulfill their quota."

"Understood." Mako turned away and began walking again, effectively dismissing the man before him.

So, Korra had indeed met up with a slave party but it seemed as though she'd escaped. And yet, there as still an unsettling feeling seeded in Mako's stomach.

Korra hefted Mako's bags, huffing as she shifted the weight to a more comfortable balance over her shoulders. Mako might not have much in terms of material possessions, but he had a lot of weapons.

Korra wished she could use just a touch of her super-strength. The bags weren't dragging on her shoulders _yet_ but they had several hours of travel ahead of them.

"Do actually own anything besides weapons?" she asked.

"Not really," Mako said.

"Has anyone ever told you that you desperately need a life?" Koda asked. "Because you do."

Mako scowled, but it didn't seem to quell the slave.

"Did you have an accident or something? Because it's like the only expressions you can make are scowl, smirk or that of disinterest."

This was strangely reminiscent of Mako's days in Republic City and his arguments with his brother, Bolin and Avatar Korra. Except seeing as Koda was his slave with ambitions of escape, Mako wasn't concerned that he might get too close or that he might become too attached to the boy.

Koda's gaze shifted past him and his face fell, his expression becoming markedly grimmer. Mako turned, his amber eyes narrowing as he watched the elites hustling their exclusive slaves into Sato mobiles, preparing to move out. It was certainly distasteful, but it was an aspect of the Equalist Faction he just had to tolerate.

Korra couldn't help but be unsettled by the sight. She hadn't really allowed herself to think about how bad things could get for her; she'd just concentrated on surviving but she was now facing a very sobering realisation that in many ways, she was very lucky that Mako had chosen her.

She wondered how Mako could be so cold-blooded about it. The teenage boy she knew would never have stood by while people were so obviously suffering abuse. But then again, maybe she had never really known Mako at all.

She shook her head, firmly clearing it of such thoughts to focus on the immediate situation. "So, how are we going to do this?" She asked a moment later.

"Amon, the Lieutenant and I will set off first," Mako explained. "The elites come in groups staggered over the rest of the day, all taking alternate routes."

"Clever," Koda nodded. "If you're an unhinged sociopath trying to avoid being apprehended."

Mako glared, but Koda merely raised an eyebrow in a blatant challenge. "How am I wrong?"

Then said sociopath stepped into the room and Koda drew the mask of a cowed slave over his face like a veil. It made Mako wonder exactly how good an actor the boy was, to give such a convincing illusion of subservience when he was anything but.

"Ready to go, Mako?" Amon asked, the subtle growl in his voice making the hairs on the back of Korra's neck stand up.

Mako nodded, and then they set off, moving through the forest at a brisk pace.

* * *

It wasn't what Korra had expected. She had thought Amon would have insisted on being transported in a top of the line Sato mobile, guarded by half a dozen or so other vehicles. It seemed very unlike him, somehow, to be traveling simply by foot at what amounted to a rather sedate pace, for someone like him anyway.

But then, she supposed that the whole 'ostentatious Sato mobile brigade' would be more likely to attract attention, and not flashing across the country at lightning fast speed was either another way to avoid detection, or a concession to her as Mako's exclusive slave. They probably thought her unable to keep up with such a pace.

And she was going to do nothing to disillusion them. As the hours stretched on, she deliberately began to make her breathing just a touch heavier, giving the impression that she was not as strong as she really was. Mako knew she was some sort of a bender, of course, but she would be sure to leave him, Amon and the Lieutenant with the impression that she was a fairly weak one at that; the less threatening they thought her to be, the better off she was.

Though they had set off early in the morning, the sun was setting below the horizon by the time they came across a towering wall, like the kind that surrounded Ba Sing Se, the uniformity of the stone broken only by a large metal gate in front of them.

The looming doors opened, and Korra realised this must be a village she'd never visited before. The village in which the Equalists carried out most of their business.

It was rather surreal. Korra had never really thought of the Equalist Faction as anything but just that; a faction, a minority. She'd never given them much thought at all really, at least, not as much as to stop and think there'd be actual houses and civilian people living in it, under the control of Amon. But sure enough, there were houses and roads and markets and everything you would expect in a village.

But the similarities ended there. The people scurried about their business like field mice watching for an Eagle hawk overhead: nervous, jittery and trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. Children stayed close to their parents, clinging to their hands, and families traveled like amorphous blobs, no member straying more than ten centimeters away from their protective cluster.

This was a village ruled by fear.

Korra looked at the terrified, worried faces around her, and felt deeply moved by sympathy. As soon as she got back to Republic City, she was blabbing the location of this village to the members of the city council; surely they'd do something to try and help these people?

Amon and the Lieutenant peeled away from them, passing a comment to Mako on where to go. Korra doubted it was meant for her reassurance; probably simply to remind Mako where they expected him to be.

"So _where_ are we going?" she asked when they were out of earshot.

Mako didn't answer.

"Fine, be that way!" she huffed.

They traveled the winding streets of the village until they came upon what Korra thought must have once been a lord's house. It was certainly the largest in the village, and had a substantial garden bordered by a tall fence.

"We're staying here?"

Korra assumed the answer was 'yes' when Mako produced a key and unlocked the gate. She supposed it made sense for Amon to stay in what was clearly the most luxurious house in the village; if nothing else, it impressed his status upon his minions.

Mako led her into the house and Korra's impression of what 'luxury' was, increased. "This is pretty swanky."

"The house once belonged to the lord of these lands," Mako said absently.

Korra quirked an eyebrow; _Now_ he chose to talk to her?

Still, she'd take advantage of it while she could. "So, where's your room?"

"Up these stairs. It was the room of the lord's first son."

Korra nodded, "Where will I sleep?"

"You're a slave."

"And you're a jerk. Anything else you want to add while we're stating the obvious?"

Mako rolled his eyes. "You're a slave; more specifically, you are _my_ slave. You will sleep in my room as you have always done."

"I guess I can live with that."

Mako opened a door and stepped in, Korra following suit. After his sparse room in the underground base, she was rather taken aback at the amount of furniture in this room. There was a four-poster bed hung with rich purple curtains, a dresser and chest of drawers inlaid with what looked like ivory carvings, a weapons rack that took up half a wall, a nightstand made of a wood she didn't recognise but that certainly looked expensive, and an enormous window overlooking the gardens, a large window seat running underneath it with plump cushions at either end.

Korra whistled, impressed. She shrugged the bags off her shoulders and to the floor, taking the weapons out and placing them on the rack automatically, her eyes devouring every inch of this new area before staring out the window as she calculated the fastest route from it to the wall.

Mako watched Koda set up his weapons, the boy's mind obviously on escape once more. He was staring out the window, his eyes tracking what Mako could only guess were the possible routes out of the village.

As though sensing Mako's gaze on him, Koda turned around, his eyes dark with thought, brain gears turning behind them like the well-oiled wheels of a clock...

And then just like that it slotted into place, like the final piece of a puzzle. Mako knew where he'd seen those eyes before.

* * *

That night, while Koda was arranging his blankets on the small window seat and affording Mako a perfect view of his face, Mako struck with all the deadliness and accuracy of a weasel snake.

"Are you related to Avatar Korra?"

Naked panic flared across the Koda's face for one brief moment before it was stifled. "No. Why?"

Mako would admit the boy was good; unless he'd been watching his face in the exact instant he'd asked the question.

But he _had_ been watching Koda's face, and he _had_ seen the instant of panic before the boy smothered it.

So; it seemed that Koda was related to Korra. He had been fairly certain the boy was; after all, his turquoise eyes were the _exact_ same shade Korra's were, and they were even the same shape! While there might not be much family resemblance in the rest of his visage, those eyes made his hereditary clear.

If he _was_ related to Korra; how? Mako knew Korra had no siblings, so perhaps a cousin then? But even so, why had he never seen Koda before? If they were the same age, they should have bumped into one another at some stage.

Korra's heart was pounding so hard against her chest that she was sure Mako could hear it. What had she done? What had she let slip? Mako's smirk made it clear he knew she'd been lying when she pretended not to recognise the name; did he know?

She told herself to calm down; at this point, it seemed he had nothing more than suspicions. And panicking would do nothing but confirm those suspicions faster than anything else ever could. So she should just calm down, act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and continue making her bed.

Of course, that was easier said than done. Korra noted the slight trembling of her hands and turned away to adjust a pillow to hide it from Mako.

But if he did find out who she really was, what would happened then?

_'Don't think about that!'_ she told herself firmly. _'You have to calm down, not get more worked up!'_

Mako continued to watch her, a disconcertingly smug smirk decorating his face, before he eventually took his kali sticks and left the room, undoubtedly to train.

Leaving Korra to breathe a silent sigh of relief and concentrate on steadying her hands.

When Mako returned, the room was lit only by moonlight, and Koda was fast asleep in the window seat.

He approached the boy, watching for any flickers, any shift in colours, anything to hint at a transformation technique. But there was nothing. If a transformation was being used, Koda must have phenomenal energy control to maintain it while he slept.

Assuming that Koda was his real name. Now that he thought about it, it seemed rather like a play on 'Korra', and he wouldn't have put it past the turquoise-eyed male to have come up with a false name.

Slowly, silently, Mako approached the sleeping figure among the pile of blankets. He touched his hands to a lock of Koda's hair as gently as he could, trying not to disturb the slumbering boy, the physical contact triggering unwarranted memories to flash before Mako's eyes; and in Mako's mind the boy's chocolate locks grew into waist long hair, the tan skin like mocha, the face softened and lost its sharp, angular features. The nose became smaller, the chin less prominent, the hands more fine-boned, more delicate.

Mako stared down at the person his memories had just revealed, feeling as though his own breath of fire had just burned him.

It wasn't Korra's cousin.


	4. Chapter 4

Cadence Chapter Four: Revealed

* * *

Mako was rarely in a situation where he didn't know what to do. Even if he had no precise plan, he usually had _some _sort of an idea of what he should do.

Except now.

He watched Korra slumber quietly, wondering if he should rouse her; and then what? What would he do? What would he _say_?

For once in his life, Mako didn't have the faintest clue.

Korra stirred, muttering a little in her sleep, and Mako backed away automatically, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Korra was Koda. Koda, the gutsy slave who spent most of the day mouthing off to him had been Korra all along.

His mind seemed to have a hard time grasping the concept. It was _Korra_ who'd sniped at him and used sarcasm like a weapon. It was _Korra_ who had taken a whip across her arm without a flinch. It was _Korra_ who'd staggered back to his room after a beating that would have crippled many a hardened warrior.

And more importantly, it was Korra who had not given him the slightest hint at her identity. She hadn't revealed herself to him when they were alone, trusting him to help her. She hadn't tried to convince him to come back; in fact, if any of her escape attempts had been successful, she would have left Mako far behind her, without him ever having the slightest suspicion of whom she really was.

He refused to acknowledge the kernel of disappointment that sprouted within him at the thought.

And now that he knew who she was, what was he going to do? He knew that he should report her to Amon; the amount of information she could take back to Republic City was staggering. But he felt no need to. He knew Amon was corrupt; why should he make an effort to prevent the Equalist's inevitable downfall?

He knew he should tell Korra, but he found himself not wanting to do that, either. If she knew that he knew it would only complicate things. The way they were now was simple; she wanted to escape, so he'd let her escape. Then she'd go back to Republic City and he could go back to his training, and he could forget this had ever happened as he'd tried to forget his memories of Republic City and those he'd left behind. Simple, easy, required almost no effort on his part; yes, Mako liked that plan.

So that was what he'd do.

Mako turned away and walked to his bathroom, preparing for sleep, and trying not to concentrate on the fact that, when he had finally realised who those startlingly familiar turquoise eyes belonged to, his first instinct had been to sweep her into his arms and run, run out of Sound to deposit her at Republic City's doorstep.

* * *

"What's up with you?" Korra asked, shaking her head at Mako. "That's the third time I've caught you staring at me and we haven't even gone for breakfast yet."

"Nothing." Mako turned away, cursing himself. Now that he knew it was Korra in the room with him, it seemed ridiculous he'd ever missed it. It seemed that every time he turned around he was recognising another of Korra's mannerisms: the way she scowled, the way she crossed her arms, the way she glared...

Unfortunately, it meant he spent a lot of time staring at Korra, picking out those little details. He didn't even know why he was doing it, why it was giving him a sense of warmth every time he saw Korra's true identity peek through her Koda facade.

Turquoise eyes peered curiously at him, and Mako jerked his gaze away. While he could watch her, meeting those eyes had become uncomfortable for him ever since he'd learned who was behind them. He didn't know why looking into Korra's eyes unsettled him; it just did.

"So...breakfast?" Korra prompted, chalking Mako's weird behaviour up to the fact that he was Mako.

"Follow me," he instructed.

"Yes, sir!" Korra snapped, sarcasm heavy in her tone as she goose-stepped out of the room behind him.

Mako still found it a little bewildering that this was Korra who was standing up to him like this. Who was disparaging him like this.

"Well, are we going to get breakfast or are you just going to stand in the doorway like a particularly useless statue?"

Mako glared at her, but as always, his displeasure didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. He could remember a time when his displeasure with her would have made her sad, embarrassed but now, there was nothing. It was as though she didn't care anymore.

_'Maybe she doesn't...'_ the thought whispered in the back of Mako's mind, the concept more unsettling than he would have wanted it to be.

He then told himself to stop thinking about it. To say nothing, to allow Korra to escape, and then everything could go back to the way it was before he had figured out who she was, dredging up memories of times better left forgotten.

So, with a slight snort, he set off down the corridor, Korra hurrying after him. He wound his way through the house, approaching a formal dining room the previous owner would have used for large-scale events such as village-wide councils or treaties between countries.

As he drew closer, he realised that they were not alone in this house.

Mako halted outside the door, rather puzzled. He knew enough about the Equalist faction to know that it was time for the slaves who worked in the house to be taking their breakfast, so why was the hall crammed with Equalists?

He had a sudden urge to turn around and tell Korra to go back to the room while he determined what was going on. Any break in the routine with the Equalists usually signaled danger of some kind.

"What is going on with you?" came an indignant voice from behind him. "Seriously, I want to know. You've been staring at me, staring into space, stopping in the middle of hallways for no reason; what's going on?"

Mako flashed another scowl at her before opening the door, stepping into a room filled with Equalist lackeys.

"Ah, Mako, glad you could join us," Amon lulled. "Tell me, how was your night? Do anything _interesting_?"

If there was one thing Mako had learned about Amon, it was that he did not make small talk. Everything he said had some purpose, some hidden meaning and when the eyes behind the mask slid past him to alight on Korra, Mako realised what it was.

_'He knows!'_

It should have surprised him, but he found it didn't. Not really. There were a countless number of ways Amon could have found out. Cameras hidden in the room, a roof-hopping Equalist glancing into the window last night at the wrong moment...

Korra went stiff as Amon's eyes sought her out. In that instant, she knew he was aware of her true identity. Call it a hunch; call it intuition, She just _knew_.

She stepped back automatically, some wild thought of just turning around and running for her life thumping through her brain, but someone caught her arm. She whirled around, just managing to see the Lieutenant behind her, one hand gripping her wrist, the other glowing blue with electric pulses and coming down on the back of her neck...

It was like being hooked up to a thousand volts of electricity for one split-second. The jolt coursed through her body, shocking, but too fast to be considered painful and when it left Korra found herself on her knees, hunched over the floor, her hair hanging in her eyes.

_'Crap!'_ was all that ran through her head as she took in the curves of her breast and hip pressing against the material of her shift. It seemed her cover was well and truly blown.

_'Crap!'_

Slowly, she raised her head to look at Amon, her mind frantically racing to determine the best course of action but coming up blank. She didn't dare look at Mako; she needed to be clear-headed if she was going to get out of this and whatever expression was adorning his face now would only serve to muddy her thoughts.

"I think you have made a grave mistake, Avatar Korra," Amon said, his low chuckle making her stomach clench.

He glanced at the men around him. "Take her."

Well, at least that explained why there were so many Equalists. Korra was torn between being intimidated by their sheer numbers and flattered that Amon thought he needed this many men to take her down even though she was collared.

But then they were rushing towards her, and she had to react.

Korra lunged backwards, putting her back against the wall and ensuring no one could come at her from behind. With her bending made unreliable by the collar, she couldn't guarantee she would be able to win this fight.

With a snarl of defiance, Korra summoned small flames to her hands, working with her limited energy to form the fire daggers that Lord Zuko had once shown her.

"Anyone that touches me, I'll rip their throats out," she said, her voice low but perfectly clear, ringing with deadly intent.

A few of her more prudent attackers slowed their headlong rush, blind bloodlust beginning to give way to cold calculation, but some simply continued charging forward.

A pair of tall men reached her first, and it only took a moment to singe both their throats with her fire daggers. While an efficient weapon, they took some energy to maintain, and Korra knew that, with the collar on, she had to conserve as much energy as possible.

So she abandoned them in favour of yanking a long blade from one of her would-be attacker's sheaths as their bodies hit the floor. A single sweep of the sword at waist-height sliced the first row of enemies, save for one who was a little quicker than the others and dropped into a crouch, lunging forward at the level of her knees.

Korra leapt high into the air, her feet coming down on the back of his neck, snapping it cleanly with a rather nauseating crack.

Kicking the body into the mob and knocking several of them down, Korra had a moment to reflect on how truly desperate her situation was. With the collar on, she was finding it difficult to bring her superhuman strength into play. One good blow would probably end the battle.

Korra leaned back, her hands using the wall as a brace as she snapped her feet out, catching one Equalist in the sternum, sending him careening backwards to knock those behind him over like dominoes.

She ducked away from the wild swing of an electrified glove, bringing her weapon up diagonally across her attacker's chest.

She twisted away and down, letting a sword aimed for her neck slide over her and straight through another opponent. She gained her feet again, about to raise her blade to drive it into the owner of said sword when the man toppled over suddenly.

Mako was standing behind him, electricity sizzling through his kali sticks.

"_She's mine!_" he shouted, his hand closing over her wrist and yanking her towards him, her sword falling to the floor as his fingers dug into her tender nerves and forced her to release it.

"The hell I am!" Korra rebuffed, raising the arm he hadn't seized and slugging him brutally in the side.

She felt ribs crack beneath her blow, but then she felt a ruthless, sickeningly familiar, pinch at the side of her neck, and darkness rushed into her vision like a living thing.

* * *

When Korra regained consciousness, she was in Mako's room, lying on his bed with the amber eyed fire bender himself sitting next to her, staring down at her.

Korra tensed automatically. She'd been revealed, and while Mako had been almost nice to her in the past, that was when he hadn't known whom he was talking to. Now that he did, what was he going to do?

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, interrupting her thoughts as though he could hear them. She blinked, staring at him in honest surprise. Uncomfortable with lying down while he sat upright, and the level of vulnerability that entailed, however slight, she sat up and slid away from him, only stopping when her back was pressed against the headboard.

So; what happened now? Considering their last encounter, some cynical part of Korra had honestly expected Mako to use his electrified kali sticks against her, leaving her singed. Despite being the Avatar Korra knew that with the collar on, she'd be lucky to last five seconds against him. Korra drew her knees up against her chest, unconsciously defensive at the thought.

"What was your mission?" he asked, rather abruptly. Almost as though he'd been going to ask something else but had then changed his mind. "The one you were before you were captured?"

Korra didn't answer, instead deciding to glare at him mutinously over her bent knees.

Mako raised an eyebrow, somehow managing to look uninterested and yet expectant at the same time. "Are you going to stay silent?"

Korra had been puzzling over why she had been kept alive ever since she'd awoken. And it seemed now she had her answer; they wanted information. Amon must have decided that Mako should try to weasel the information out of her before they resorted to torture.

"Voluntarily give information about my Avatar missions to an Equalist?" Korra drawled, rolling her eyes to the ceiling as she sarcastically pretended to consider it. "Gee, let me think; no! You want information, tell mask-man to hang me by my thumbs, because I'm certainly not going to be lulled into giving anything away!"

Mako shot her a look that suggested she was deeply stupid. "You weren't kept alive for information."

He said it as though it would have been patently obvious to even a two year-old. Which, of course, it wasn't. Korra had no idea why Amon hadn't ordered her throat slit while she was unconscious. But she suppressed the urge to throw herself at the fire bender with a screech of fury; while attacking him would have undoubtedly been immensely satisfying, it would also have been futile.

So, once again, she used a heavy layer of sarcasm to convey her anger and irritation. "Then what, pray tell, _was_ I kept alive for?"

Mako gave a slight smirk. "You heard what I said before I knocked you out."

"Yeah..." Korra said slowly, remembering his rather possessive declaration. "But how does that lead to me still being alive?"

"Your identity may have been unclear when you first became my slave, but you are still my slave. Your fate is my decision."

Her life was in Mako's hands. This was really becoming a strong competitor for 'worst day of her life' – in fact, she thought it might have won. She'd been discovered by Amon, attacked by a slew of Equalist lackeys, knocked out by Mako and learned that her life was under the control of a man who seemed to have little compunction about killing her.

_'And it's not even noon yet,'_ she reflected, with more than a tinge of fatalism.

"And Amon just accepted that?" she asked skeptically, unable to picture the leader of the Equalists being overly pleased at the idea that the Avatar had been sneaking around his base.

She could certainly picture him being irritated enough to feed her to something large and carnivorous, but she had no idea why he would release her to Mako's custody.

Mako didn't offer any reply; because there wasn't one that he could give her. He found Amon's acquiescence to Korra's presence rather strange, to say the least. He had the uncomfortable feeling that this was some kind of test, but he had no idea what the masked man could be testing.

Fortunately, Korra didn't seem to expect a reply. When her question fell flat, she made no move to speak again, simply watching him, her body taut, as though ready to leap out of the way at the slightest hint of an attack.

The tension in her body irritated him. He couldn't quite place the reason why, but some part of him wanted her to relax a little, to look at him with the same fearlessness she had when she was Koda.

It didn't escape him that there was something very ironic about that. She hadn't feared him before, because he hadn't known who she was. But now that she knew he was aware she was one of his former teammates and friend, she feared his reaction.

Still, given their last encounter, Mako acknowledged she had good reason to be wary. But didn't she know he couldn't do such a thing, not now that the collar left her so unable to defend herself against him?

"When you said there were people looking for you, you meant Bolin, didn't you?" he asked, hoping the mention of his brother would put her at ease.

But her reaction was the exact opposite. She became even more rigid, her eyes even more wary. "Of course I did. And Lin and Tenzin and everyone else."

She had no doubt that her teammates would be scouring the countryside for her, Bolin especially. It was reassuring, in a way, but she didn't allow herself to think about them much. Because, while it might be comforting, it was more depressing, than anything else. She didn't want to think about how they would be worrying over her, about how they must be assuming all sorts of hideous things were happening to her. No, it was better to just focus on getting home.

"Do you know how he found out?" Korra asked dully.

Mako had asked the same thing. Amon had confirmed one of his suspicions; there had indeed been an Equalist guard patrolling the perimeter of the building he and Korra were staying in at just the wrong time. He'd seen Mako's face of realization, perhaps heard him whisper Korra's name and had, as was required, reported it.

"_But of course, you were going to tell me all about that, weren't you?" _Amon had chastised the young man before him.

_"Hn."_ Mako had chosen not to tell him that he'd never had any intention of doing so. Something in the masked man's eyes told him he'd already suspected as much.

"_Well, she's all yours now,"_ Amon said, his tone turning so salacious that Mako couldn't doubt his meaning. _"Enjoy."_

And not a moment had gone by since then that Mako didn't curse himself for not closing the curtains last night. Innuendo aside, he was certain Amon's motives were not as simple as they first appeared; they never were.

So Mako just shrugged, his face twisting in pain when his fractured ribs throbbed.

"I got some of your ribs, huh?" Korra said with a wintry smile.

Mako refused to acknowledge her slightly triumphant expression. He also refused to admit he was a little impressed. He was sure that, if she hadn't been collared, the blow would have been strong enough to snap his spine in two.

And she was showing no concern over the fact that she'd injured him. He had expected her to offer to heal him the moment she realised what her blow had done, regardless of whether she was actually capable of doing so with the collar on. But she hadn't: she was simply watching him with a cold, victorious smile curling her lips.

This was clearly a very different Korra to the one he remembered.

With a barely noticeable grimace of frustration and pain, Mako rose from the bed, making his way to the bathroom to find some ointment to soothe his very sore torso.

"What happens to me now?" Korra asked quietly, her eyes downcast.

Something in Mako's chest squeezed at the sight of her looking so _resigned_. "You will stay here. Lunch will be delivered to you, but you are not permitted to leave this room."

"_What?!" _Korra shrieked, resignation melting away in a hot rush of fury.

But Mako's eyes were as hard and flat as polished amber. "Do not make me lock you in."

For an instant, their eyes clashed in a war without words. Without preamble, Korra turned her head away, staring out the window instead of at him as he left the room.

She knew she'd lost this round but she had no intention of losing the war. She needed to play along for now; an unlocked door held far more opportunities than a locked one. The window was an obvious choice for an escape route. _Too obvious._ She wouldn't have put it past Amon to post a guard hidden somewhere in the garden whose sole purpose was to stare at the window and make sure she didn't try to slip out through it.

On that suspicion, she clambered onto her makeshift bed and leaned out the window, staring down into the garden. Sure enough, there were two Equalist guards in the garden, standing motionlessly, their eyes trained on her. Korra waited several moments, to see if they would move, before she casually slung a leg over the sill, as though she were about to climb out.

Their hands slid to their weapons.

With an exasperated sigh, Korra withdrew the limb and flopped back onto her bed, counting down ten minutes before she checked again, just in case they'd only been doing the rounds of the garden or something...

But they were still in the same place, eyes trained on the window.

Korra shut the window and kicked the wall in a fit of petulance. The window was still a viable option, but an extra level of complication had just been added.

So the young Avatar simply sighed, slumping back onto her window seat. Was the first day she was discovered too soon to try to escape? She thought it was – give it a few days, allow everything to settle down, let the guards become complacent and then she'd make her move.

* * *

Mako walked back to his room at the end of day, wondering if he'd find Korra in it or if she'd tried to escape already. It had felt slightly strange to go to training without a turquoise-eyed shadow trailing behind him. Of course, the turquoise-eyed shadow he had become so accustomed to had been Korra all along, and Mako still wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

He opened the door, only half-expecting to see Korra sitting on her makeshift bed. Instead she was staring out the window at the setting sun. Her eyes flickered towards him, but she didn't acknowledge his presence.

Her indifference towards him irritated Mako. He didn't know what he had expected, but he'd expected _something_.

Korra studiously ignored Mako as he strode through the room and into the bathroom, the sound of water pelting against tile telling her he was showering. She knew she should be trying to persuade Mako to return to Republic City but she was tired, worried for her friends, and she just wanted to go home.

Her throat prickled a little, but Korra ruthlessly squashed the reaction, focusing on her rage at being held here against her will. Anger and sarcasm were a better refuge than tears and despair.

The sun set below the horizon and darkness seeped into the room, but Korra didn't bother to turn on the lights. Instead, she just curled up in her bed, shutting her eyes and surrendering to her physical and mental exhaustion, hoping she would wake in the morning to find this had all been some kind of crazy dream.

She knew she should stay awake at least until their dinner was delivered, but Korra had no appetite. Not tonight.

When she awoke in the morning, the room was deserted, and for a moment Korra thought Mako had already left for training. But no sooner had the thought entered her mind did the door open and Mako strode in, carrying two apples.

"Here," he said, tossing them to her.

Korra caught them, blinking in puzzlement. He was clearly giving her breakfast; her puzzlement didn't arise from that, but from trying to discern his motives. He had made no attempt to bully or hurt her, had actually bargained with her about locking the door yesterday, and was now bringing her breakfast in a clearly altruistic move.

In short, nothing of his current behaviour fit with the Mako she and Bolin had confronted a few months ago. This was more reminiscent of the boy she'd known in her pro-bending days; sensitive and aloof, but considerate and caring underneath that, no matter how much he protested otherwise.

For a moment, she wondered if her presence had somehow caused him to regress, but dismissed the thought.

Mako watched her bite into her apple, and decided now was as good a time as any to address their problem.

"You'll have to get rid of the blankets," he instructed bluntly.

She blinked at him and swallowed the bit of apple she had been chewing before asking, "Why?"

Mako had been hoping a little of the old Korra still dwelled within her, the one who had always assumed that his advice was the best, and had done whatever he asked. He really didn't want to explain why this was a necessity.

"Korra, just do it."

"Why?" she repeated calmly.

Mako gritted his teeth and made an effort to keep his face calm. "You won't need them; you'll be sleeping in the bed from now on."

"With you?" Korra thought her eyes might pop out of their sockets. "No way!"

There was no way she was sleeping next to Mako. She was no masochist; she wasn't going to compound her heartache by tantalising herself with things she could never have.

"We have to."

Korra glared and fought the urge to cram the apple in her hand down his throat and watch him choke on it. "Care to explain that reasoning to me?"

Mako sighed, as though dealing with a difficult child. "Amon allowed me to keep you as my slave because he believes I am using you for a very specific purpose. A purpose which would make it seem suspicious if we are not sharing the bed."

Comprehension dawned on Korra. Amon had allowed her to remain as Mako's slave because he thought Mako would now be having sex with her.

"Oh Spirits…" she muttered, running her hands through her short hair at the thought that Amon was speculating over her sex life.

Mako felt a little offended at the obvious distaste written across her features. Was the idea of sex with him really so repulsive? Apparently so, because Korra looked well and truly disgusted.

But it passed, and her expression became speculative. "What would happen if he found out that we aren't having sex? That you're keeping me around for, well, whatever reason you're keeping me around for?"

Mako didn't answer. He could make an educated guess at what would happen to her; Korra would be interrogated, and if she survived the torture, she would be handed over to one of the Equalist elites as a plaything. But he had no real concrete idea of what would happen to him. He was certain that this was some kind of test, and he was equally certain that he was failing whatever warped standard Amon was holding him to by refusing to take sexual advantage of Korra. So while he didn't know exactly what would happen to him if the ruse were ever discovered, he knew it would undoubtedly be unpleasant.

Something in his demeanor must have answered Korra's question, for she nodded very slightly in understanding, as though he'd given an eloquent verbal reply instead of stony silence. The idea that she might have been able to pick up on his mental speculations was unsettling in more ways than one, and he looked away, rising and reaching for his kali sticks.

There was something surprisingly domestic in the scene, Korra reflected as she bit into her fruit once more. Her eating the apples he'd brought her, and him preparing for his training. Of course, they'd shared many other 'domestic' moments previously, but this time was different. This time, she wasn't pretending to be someone else. This time, Mako knew it was her.

"Do not leave the room," he stated before he shut the door.

Korra made a rather rude gesture at the closed door. Pointless, yes, but it eased the sting of bitterness at the fact that her captive status could not have been clearer. When she had been identifying as Koda, she had possessed some small measure of freedom, but now even that had been taken from her.

She knew that she had promised herself she would try to convince Mako to return to Republic City but she was just so _mad_ at him! She could either be extremely morose over what had happened to them, to all of them, Bolin included, or she could be extremely furious at him.

And frankly, Korra knew which option she preferred. Anger she could deal with, anger she could handle. Anger was much, much safer than wallowing in misery.

But still, she had to try to reason with him. For Bolin's sake, if no one else's.

Korra decided she would give herself one more day. One more day to sulk and rage at him and the world and then she'd try to make nice.

One more day.

* * *

By the time Mako returned, Korra was out of her mind with boredom. She knew it would be a bad idea to attempt an escape when she had yet to form a real plan, but she had been sorely tempted to just jump out the window and run for it, guards be damned. Even taking into account the fact that she'd suffer for being caught, at least healing the resulting injuries would give her something to do!

With a sigh, Korra meditated for the tenth time that day, figuring that as long as she was stuck here without anything else to do, she might as well use the time to work on her form.

She heard the door open, and her eyes flickered over to Mako as she completed the last of the moves. She saw his glance skim over the window seat, now bare of blankets. She had obeyed him, and folded them away in the closet during the course of the day.

Just because she didn't like the idea of sleeping in the same bed as him didn't mean she didn't understand why it was important. From what he had told her, Amon had handed her to Mako on the premise that he would use her as a sex toy, and she understood that it was important they make the masked-man believe that was exactly what was happening.

The more Korra thought about it, the more she realised that Mako's claim on her had probably saved her from a far worse fate, but she couldn't puzzle out why he'd done it. After all, he had tried to kill both her and Bolin barely eight months ago, so why would he make such an effort to keep her safe now?

Dinner was a silent affair. Korra was doing her very best not to think about the fact that they would soon be sharing a bed. There was something very surreal about the situation; they were barely on speaking terms with each other and yet they were preparing to sleep side by side.

She went through her bedtime ritual automatically, her mind running in circles like a mouse in an exercise wheel. Her stomach was knotting in a combination of dread and eager anticipation; dread because she was sure this would do her emotional stability no good, and eager anticipation because she couldn't quite stomp out her traitorous heart's joy in being close to him.

_'I'll have to work on that,'_ she told herself.

It hadn't been this difficult when she had been Koda however back then, she'd been playing a part, hiding behind the identity of a boy with some degree of bending potential. Now there was no mask to wear, no veil to hide behind.

Now, she was just Korra, and all that that entailed.

She emerged from the bathroom, passing Mako on his way in as she headed for the bed, determined not to worry about it, but to just go to bed as though she slept next to ex-teammates who'd defected from their home town every day. After all, making a big deal out of this would only make her more anxious than she already was.

Korra slipped beneath the sheets she was fairly sure were made of silk or some equally expensive and luxurious material, lying as far towards the side as she comfortably could, facing away from the center to ensure Mako would be presented with her back. This would be difficult enough without looking into his eyes as she fell asleep; _that_ she simply refused to do, afraid of what her own eyes might reveal to him as exhaustion lowered her guard.

She had chosen the side nearest the window so she could stare into the night, searching for constellations she recognised as the stars shimmered like diamonds strewn across black velvet.

She tensed, but didn't so much as blink as Mako finished up in the bathroom and moved quietly to the bed. Korra felt a cool draft of air caress her back as he lifted the blankets and slid within their warm cocoon.

She could feel the heat radiating from his body; feel the blankets on top of her shift every time he breathed. She wondered if he felt a shift when she breathed, or if her movements were too small in comparison to be noticed above his own.

She then told herself to stop thinking on it and concentrate on resting. Her muscles were tight and tense. She did her best to concentrate on breathing deeply in and out; a little meditation trick Tenzin had taught her.

When she felt her body loosen a little,

Korra closed her eyes and tried to quiet her mind, though she had a feeling sleep would be a long time in taking her.


	5. Chapter 5

Cadence Chapter Five: Motive

* * *

When Mako awoke, he was first bemused to realise that he'd fallen asleep, and then confused at the fact that one of his arms had gone numb. As he became more aware of his surroundings, enough to realise why that was so, he inhaled sharply, his breath ripping through his throat.

Somehow - he didn't know how or why - he and Korra had moved to entangle themselves with one another during the night. They had twisted so that they were facing each other on their sides; his former pro-bending teammate's head pillowed against his upper arm, explaining why it had gone numb. Their legs were entwined and his other arm was slung over her waist, as though to anchor her to him, while her hands were curled against his chest, lightly fisted in his shirt.

Mako was surprised he'd even fallen asleep. Almost a year with the Equalists had made him wary, alert to even the suggestion of danger. He often jerked awake when approached during slumber, and found it difficult to even begin to nap while in the presence of others.

But not only had he fallen asleep with Korra barely a few centimeters away, they'd also come into physical contact during the night, and his internal radar had never registered a threat. Why? Why had his carefully honed senses so blatantly dismissed Korra as a source of danger?

For a moment, he held himself completely still, ceasing to breathe, wondering why his first impulse had been to pull her even closer and close his eyes once more. He had never really liked people encroaching on his personal space so why was he so eager to prolong this contact with Korra?

He didn't dwell on the thought, but instead extricated himself from the bed as silently and unobtrusively as possible. He slowly, gently coaxed her fists open, freeing his shirt as he tried to ease his numb limb out from beneath her head. Korra sighed as his arms slipped from around her, but she didn't stir; She merely rolled over and snuggled deeper into the blankets.

Mako didn't know why, but something compelled him to pause and take her in, to imprint her on his mind like a developer with a photograph. Except he didn't know why he should want to remember dark chocolate hair against his pale sheets, or the way her spine slightly curved as her knees bent and her arms folded, as though she was trying to imitate a sleeping ring-tailed lemur curling into a ball.

Something told him it was a bad idea to have her sleeping in the same bed as him. But it had to be done. This was some sort of test. Amon had never let a test slide by without making some attempt at evaluation. Mako didn't know when it would come; maybe tomorrow, maybe months from now; but it _would_ come.

He wasn't sure what kind of evaluation that would be, but he was fairly certain that his room was going to be subjected to impromptu checks in the weeks to come. It would be easy enough for the masked man to drum up an excuse to send lackeys into his room to spy, and if they reported that Korra was still sleeping in the window seat, suspicions would be raised.

Hence, the decision to relocate her to his bed was a precautionary measure, but certainly a necessary one. That way, if one of Amon's many lackeys paid a surprise visit, it would look like he was doing what he was meant to be doing.

He left the room to get his breakfast, feeling somewhat relieved that Korra hadn't awoken. If she had realised the position they'd somehow ended up in during the night…

Mako couldn't picture what would happen; only that it would probably be awkward and unpleasant. And he wasn't quite sure why he cared.

* * *

Mako ate in silence, sitting well away from any of the other Equalists. The Equalists often ate before the slaves did, so the majority of them became accustomed to rising before their slaves were awake. After all, if there was an hour or so in which only slaves were awake, it gave them ample time to plan and execute rebellions. This way, they were restricted to whatever time they could snatch in hidden corners and away from their masters' prying eyes.

He remembered to seize a few pieces of fruit for Korra's breakfast, seeing as she was restricted to his room and wouldn't be able to get breakfast for herself. He didn't think he could blame Amon for this order; if Korra had managed to incapacitate nearly a dozen Equalists while restrained with the collar, there was no telling the havoc she could wreak if she got most of the slaves in the mansion stirred up along with her. Mako pondered that for a moment, but remembering how Korra had cut a swathe through so many well-trained Equalists and chi-blockers as though she was mowing grass, made him vaguely uneasy, so he soon halted that train of thought. If he didn't dwell on it, he could pretend it never happened, and that the Korra sleeping in his room was exactly like the Korra he remembered.

Equalists and chi-blockers alike made way when he stalked through the halls back to his room, automatically bowing to acknowledge the presence of Amon's right-hand man even as their eyes glittered with resentment. But that was what the Equalist faction was: resentment and cruelty, with an undercurrent of power; being powerful was the only way you survived in a place like this.

Offhandedly, Mako couldn't think of anyone less suited to this environment of darkness and pain than Korra. Though there was Bolin...

They were meant for different things. Better things. Some part of him had always known that.

* * *

The fire bender heard the cursing even before he opened his door; Korra still very much very vocal in her frustration.

Upon entering the room and following the disgruntled noises, Mako found Korra in front of the bathroom mirror, her head tilted back just far enough so that she had a clear view of the collar in the glass reflection. She had the tip of one of his many daggers jammed into the tiny lock as she twisted it back and forth.

"You're trying to pick the lock," Mako stated.

"_Trying_ being the operative word, there," Korra huffed, maneuvering the tiny weapon as carefully as she could, waiting to feel the click as the gears clicked into place, but it didn't come.

It hadn't ever come, and she'd been trying ever since she'd woken up. If she could pick the lock, she could get away. Without the collar, nothing could stop her. She doubted Mako would bother to try and stop her, and she'd be far away by the time Amon or the Lieutenant realised she was gone.

Assuming Mako didn't tell them and send them after her. But Korra knew he wouldn't, for the same reason he wouldn't try to stop her if she escaped. She had no idea why he had decided to keep her in his room but she did know that he wanted her gone as much as she did.

Mako shrugged at her answer and left her to it, not helping but not interfering either, which was, she reflected, perfectly descriptive of his usual reaction to her.

She heard him leave, undoubtedly after setting down the fruit she'd seen in his hands; because honestly, why else would Mako be carrying fruit around if not to feed her?

Korra continued in her attempts to force the lock, her mutters and curses growing more crude and obscene as all her tries proved pointless. She was concentrating so intently that the knock on the door made her jump. And seeing as she'd been pressed against the mirror, trying to determine if the lock had some sort of hidden trigger to it, Korra ended up careening straight into the mirror itself.

She swore, cradling the side of her face as her cheek and chin throbbed. She'd split her lip again.

The woman sighed in frustration, touching the tip of her tongue to her now bleeding lip as she set the dagger down. This would have been so much easier if Mako owned hairpins. People tended to scoff at such a cliché lock-pick, but in truth, bobby pins really were very useful; they were small and thin enough to fit into almost any lock, weak enough to be manipulated with a bit of effort, but strong enough to force the tumblers.

Of course, that stray thought led to a mental picture of Mako with bobby pins, which gave Korra a few idle snickers as she left the bathroom.

The knocking came again, but Korra didn't hurry to open the door. Mako wouldn't have bothered to knock, so it was safe to assume that it wasn't Mako who was asking for entrance to the room. And if it wasn't Mako, who was it?

Korra had no idea, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She took one of Mako's more ornate daggers from the weapon rack and held it behind her back in what she hoped was a casual pose before she approached the door.

But when she opened it, she found that she needn't have bothered. It was a dark-eyed female slave, with a rather pretty face, carrying a large jug of water and a small cup.

"Master Mako requested that this be brought for you," she said, her head lowered like that of a submissive deer dogs.

"Oh...right..." Korra muttered, shuffling backwards from the doorway so the woman could bring her burden into the room without catching a glimpse of the knife Korra was concealing. Something told Korra that the woman wouldn't react well.

Apparently, Mako had figured out that, along with the lack of breakfast and lunch her confinement brought, she didn't have access to proper drinking water. Yesterday, she'd drunk from the bathroom tap with her cupped hands. While she knew she could have told him about it, she hadn't wanted to. Asking him for something felt like admitting weakness and Mako was too much of a nemesis at the moment for her to feel comfortable doing that.

The dark-eyed woman set the water and cup on the dresser, next to the fruit that rested there; an orange, an apple, and a peach. She shot a quick glance at Korra and the Avatar tried to smile reassuringly, feeling terribly conscious of the blade she was concealing.

"Did you fight him?" the woman asked quietly.

"Noooo..." Korra said slowly. Did the woman really think she'd be stupid enough to attack Mako in her current state?

"So he's the kind who likes them in pain, then?"

Korra blinked stupidly for a moment, wondering what she meant. Then it hit her; her collision with the mirror had left her with a bleeding lip, and probably a livid red mark on her face that hinted at a coming bruise. The woman thought Mako had hit her.

"Uh..." Korra scrambled for something to say, feeling perversely guilty at the idea that Mako was being blamed for the injury yet knowing she couldn't tell the woman the truth.

"It's alright," the woman whispered with a comforting smile. "You don't have to talk about it."

She slipped out without another word.

Korra's guilt deepened. She felt bad about letting an obviously kind woman feel sympathy for her when nothing had actually happened to her.

She shook her head, telling herself firmly that this was the way it had to be. Everyone had to think that Mako was using her for sexual pleasure if they wanted Amon to be fooled. One loose tongue was all it would take to ruin it, and then...

Korra really didn't want to find out what would happen after that.

She set the dagger back on the rack, healed her face with a few minutes of concentration, and turned her attention to her meal. The fruit and water were set out side by side on the chest of drawers, and for a moment Korra was forcefully reminded of Pema setting out a bowl of food and a bowl of water for her the creatures that would frequent Air Temple Island.

Korra picked up the peach and bit into it with a little more gusto than was strictly necessary, irritated at the reminder that she was being kept here like some sort of pet. She had a brief mental image of Mako asking Amon if he could keep her, like a five year-old who had found a polar bear cub in the snow.

Still, Korra couldn't ignore that the man who was bringing her breakfast and ordering water to be delivered to her seemed a very different man from the one she'd seen a few months ago. But then, Mako _had _displayed a sort of twisted sense of honour in his reluctance to hurt her while she was collared. Knowing Mako and Bolin's mother was from a well to do Fire Nation family, she knew he would have been raised with strict doctrines about not hurting or bullying those weaker than himself.

And as much as Korra was loathed to admit it, she more than qualified for that category at the moment. With the collar off, it would be a very different story, but as it was... As it was, she had no hope of winning in a fight against Mako.

So, seeing as his own nature probably wouldn't permit him to kill her, and seeing as their interaction was on some very shaky ground, perhaps it was only natural that he reverted back to the way he was used to acting around her. It was the way he was accustomed to responding to her, and in the absence of any other guidelines, that was what he was doing.

Korra finished her breakfast while she pondered on Mako's strange behaviour, but she got no further than her original conclusions. She put it out of her mind as soon as she had finished the last of the fruit, entering the bathroom to snatch up the dagger once again and resume her attack on the lock.

* * *

Mako opened the door to his room to find Korra lounging on the window seat, one hand cradling a cup of water and the other idly tossing something that looked like a small rock up and down.

"Hey, city boy," Korra drawled.

When Mako gave her nothing but a blank look, she rolled her eyes. "What? Not responding to any of your old nicknames anymore?"

She could tell by his expression that he wasn't. All she received was silence.

"What's that?" he asked, nodding at the object she was tossing.

"The stone from the peach. See those guards watching the window? I'm trying to decide which one to throw it at."

Mako gave her one of those looks that seemed to suggest that single-celled life forms possessed more intelligence than she did. "That's pointless."

"Yeah, but it will make me feel better." Korra took aim, and let loose.

The guard tilted his head to the side and allowed the missile to whiz past him, however seeing as he'd had ample time to see the projectile coming, Korra wasn't really surprised.

"By the way, I broke three of your daggers," she told him as he set his sword down.

Mako looked mildly irritated but said nothing.

She hadn't meant to break the daggers; she'd just gotten frustrated, put a little too much force into it as she tried to manipulate the lock and the dagger had snapped in two. She'd tried again, and after another half an hour or so of pointless struggles, the same thing had happened. When she'd broken the third, Korra had finally accepted she wasn't getting anywhere.

Korra was beginning to feel that there was some sort of trigger to the lock. Perhaps it responded to the energy of the man who had put it on, perhaps it needed her bending to unlock it, either way, she had a feeling it wasn't going to be coming off her neck anytime soon.

"And I think I may have given you a reputation as a sadist," she added.

Mako's brow furrowed. A sadist? How had she given him a reputation as a sadist?

"I was a little over exuberant in my attempts to force the lock on the collar and ended up cracking my head against the mirror," Korra said; there was no way she was telling him she'd jumped in surprise. "The woman who brought the water saw it and assumed, and I quote, that you 'were the kind who liked them in pain'. So, deserved or not, most of the slaves probably now consider you a sadist."

"Deserved or not?" Mako questioned softly, wondering why she actually seemed to be considering that idea that he might be. He didn't know why it bothered him that she would think that, only that it did.

Korra snorted. "I won't venture to speculate what being a part of the Equalists has turned you into, Mako."

"The Equalists have turned me into nothing," he said harshly. "Amon hasn't changed me."

Korra gave him that same cold, strangely triumphant smile that she'd given him when she'd realised she'd cracked his ribs. "You just keep telling yourself that."

With that, she slid from the window seat and crossed to the bathroom, ready to examine the collar again after her short break to let her mind refresh.

She knew an argument for him to return to Republic City would have been a prime follow-up to that sentence, but she could see in his eyes that nothing she said would have any impact on him. At least, not now. It was better to bide her time and wait for a moment when her argument might make an impression. If she just harped on about it, he would become accustomed to it and be able to block it out. But if she waited for her moment and struck with every argument and reason she could think of, who knew what would happen?

Korra blew a stray lock of hair from her face in frustration as she stopped in front of the mirror and regarded the innocuous-looking circle of metal and leather that was the bane of her life at present. It would have been nice if she'd discovered that she couldn't pick the lock beforehand, but she hadn't really tried to before now. When she was masquerading as Koda, she had been expected to follow Mako night and day, so there had been no spare time to attempt to release herself. And though he'd tolerated her escape attempts at night, she hadn't wanted to push him by deliberately trying to free herself of the collar in his presence.

But now that Mako knew who she was, she had no doubt he would do absolutely nothing to prevent her escape attempts, however blatant.

She reflected that there was something very ironic and bitterly laughable in that, he might have stopped her when she was pretending to be someone else, but now he knew who was with him, he couldn't wait to be rid of her.

* * *

The sound of the door closing as Mako left for breakfast roused Korra from her sleep. She blearily opened her eyes, staring at the bed's canopy for a few moments, wondering if she should get up.

In the past few days, she'd tried everything she could think of on the collar. She'd tried picking the lock, she'd tried breaking the needle at the base; she'd even tried to use her Avatar-enhanced strength on it. Of course, nothing had come of the last attempt because while the collar permitted the slow release of bending used in healing, it seemed designed to block the quick release of most other bending. She didn't know how, but assumed it was a trait of whatever toxin or an effect of the electric current running through the collar.

Therefore it seemed she would have to escape with the collar on. Her best bet still seemed to be her plan to disguise herself as one of the many Equalist lackeys, but Korra wasn't completely naive of the difficulties such a plan entailed. She'd need some guarantee that dressing as an Equalist would grant her leave of the village.

She found it ironic that she'd had an easier time trying to escape from the underground base than from this village. Though to be fair, when she was in the underground base no one had actually known who she was.

The door creaked open and Korra turned in the bed, wondering if Mako had returned early. But it wasn't Mako entering the room. It was the Lieutenant.

Korra felt all her muscles tighten like coiled springs as her body was suddenly flooded with adrenaline. She was alone in a room with the Lieutenant, without a weapon immediately to hand.

This was _not_ going to end well.

Korra swung her legs to the floor and was upright in the space of a moment, her eyes fixed on Amon's sidekick, waiting for whatever move he was going to make.

The Lieutenant gave an oily smirk at her obvious wariness. "I'm just delivering something."

He held a flask, filled with a greenish liquid and stoppered with a cork, out to her, and when she made no move to take it, he set it on the bedside table.

"A contraceptive," he explained smoothly. "I am sure you do not wish to conceive in these...unhappy circumstances."

His eyes seemed to sharpen in that instant, scanning her as though he were a biologist trying to classify a particularly fascinating specimen.

Korra said nothing, eyeing the flask.

"It is very potent, a mouthful each day will do," the man went on. "Notify me when it begins to run low."

With that, he left as abruptly as he'd entered, shutting the door behind him.

"And how am I meant to notify him, pray tell?" Korra grumbled, even though she knew the Lieutenant probably expected her to relay the news via Mako or a random slave.

She lifted the flask to the light, swirling it gently, measuring its consistency and transparency. She uncorked it and sniffed at the rim, the scent identifying it as a herb that grew prolifically in the Earth Kingdom and that it was noted to be capable of preventing pregnancy. At first glance, it seemed to be exactly what the Lieutenant had claimed it was; a contraceptive.

But something wasn't sitting right with Korra. If this liquid had been brewed from the herb she thought it had been, it should have been a yellowish colour instead of green.

Telling herself that neither Amon nor the Lieutenant wouldn't poison her so blatantly and that she probably wouldn't have many ill-effects from what amounted to a single drop, she dipped her finger into the concoction and tasted it.

It tasted of peppermint.

Korra became alarmed. She knew that the contraceptive mixture used by a lot of women in Republic City tasted rather bitter. If this tasted minty it was because the maker had deliberately added mint to it.

And the Lieutenant didn't strike Korra as the type of person who would make a mixture taste pleasant for the comfort of the patient. So, if he made it taste minty, that probably meant he was hiding something. Some discrepancy in the taste would alert her to the fact that this wasn't just a contraceptive.

It was so obvious it was rather insulting. What kind of fool did they take her for?

Korra came to the conclusion that there was some other drug in the flask. She just didn't know what. There was something tugging at her mind, a vague memory of Katara explaining herbs; one that smelled like the contraceptive but didn't look or taste like it...

Realisation slammed into her like a falling boulder just as Mako walked into the room.

"What is it?" he asked, glancing at the flask in her hand.

He seemed to ask that an awful lot lately. But then again, Korra supposed he had a good reason this time, she could only imagine the expression that was adorning her face as she stared at the innocent-looking liquid.

"The Lieutenant came in and gave it to me," she said absently.

Mako stiffened. The Lieutenant had been here with Korra? Alone? He ran his eyes over her briefly, searching for any injuries or evidence of misuse, and tried to ignore the feeling of relief that went through him when he found none.

"He said it was a contraceptive," Korra went on, sounding a little dazed as her mind whirred with possibilities and explanations. "He was lying."

"What is it?" Mako repeated, feeling a frisson of unease run along his spine. Was it poison? Had Amon re-thought his decision about Mako and charged his loyal sidekick with doing the dirty work?

"It smells like a contraceptive herb," Korra continued. "But the colour, the fact that there's mint in it to cover the taste, I think it's actually another, rather obscure herb. I guess Amon assumed I'd go by the smell and didn't know about this herb, considering it doesn't grow in Republic City."

"So what does it do?" Mako asked, irritated at her evasive replies as he strode to the weapon rack.

"If I drank this, it would _increase_ my chances of conceiving, not lessen them."

Mako froze for a moment in the act of gathering his kali sticks as his mind processed that. Amon _wanted_ Korra pregnant by him? Was that why he'd allowed him to keep her in his room? Mako didn't need to think hard to guess at the reason for such a desire, either. Amon was by no means blind to the sheer power a potential child of Mako and Korra's would posses. If the fire bender had a child with Korra, it would have immense bending capabilities not to mention if Korra could pass her phenomenal strength onto her children...well, Mako could certainly see why the masked man would take interest in their potential progeny.

Korra had apparently reached the same conclusion. "It seems Amon wants a herd of benders at his disposal and apparently, I'm the brood mare."

Considering the anger in her voice, Mako was surprised when she lifted the flask to her lips and took a mouthful of it. But when she walked to the bathroom and spat it out, he understood. She was making it look like they were using the contraceptive, in case the Lieutenant decided to make another impromptu visit.

At that thought, Mako frowned. He didn't like the idea that the Lieutenant had access to Korra, especially while she was collared.

He had been prepared for one of Amon's many lackeys coming into his room, but he had never expected that he would send the Lieutenant. He wouldn't have worried if it had been some random Equalist; they were too intimidated by him to ever risk crossing him, and so would leave Korra alone for fear of incurring his wrath. But the Lieutenant was different. The lieutenant was dangerous.

And something in Mako rebelled at the idea of Korra being at the man's nonexistent mercy.

Korra was rinsing her mouth to wash out every remnant of the vile liquid when Mako dropped something onto the bathroom vanity in front of her. She spat out the water and glanced down at the object; a large silver key.

"Lock the door when I leave," Mako said shortly. "Do not let anyone in until you are certain of his or her intentions."

Korra reached out for the key, weighing it in her hand, her fingers running over the cool metal. This had certainly come out of the blue. A few days ago, he was warning her not to make him lock her in, and now he was telling her to lock him out?

But it seemed Mako was already regretting his decision; he was staring at the key in her hand with a scowl deeply entrenched on his face.

Korra was about to say something, she didn't know what, but she wanted to say _something_, when he turned his back on her and strode out the door, shutting it behind him with a harsh snap.

Left alone, Korra stared at the key in her hand for at least a full minute before she went over to the door, inserted the key and turned it once, hearing the lock click into place.

On the other side of the door, Mako also heard the tell-tale sound of the lock clicking, and he continued down the hallway, his scowl settling deeper on his features. He had no idea why he'd waited to hear the lock being engaged, or why the sound had soothed something in him he'd never even known was tense.

All he knew was that the idea of Korra in his room, collared and vulnerable to whoever walked in the door, had made him unsettled in a way he wasn't used to. While the Lieutenant was more than capable of kicking in a locked door, Mako suspected the man wouldn't risk crossing him so blatantly.

As long as the door was locked, Korra was under a modicum of protection.

_'I don't care,'_ he thought. _'I gave the key to her on a whim, I don't care about her, I don't care..._'

Somehow, each repetition only made it seem less and less convincing.

* * *

"So when you delivered it, how did Avatar Korra seem to you?" Amon asked, brown eyes sharp and piercing despite his innocuous-sounding question.

"She was wary, but did not seem to have been harmed," the Lieutenant reported. "That in itself might not be much of a surprise; I doubt Mako's predilections run towards deliberately hurting his partner, but she doesn't have the look of a woman who was raped, either, even though she was sleeping in his bed."

Amon said nothing, gesturing for the Lieutenant to continue with his evaluation.

"I am aware that she used to have a crush on him, so it is possible he may have seduced her." The Lieutenant smirked a little, obviously disbelieving. "Although after that display when you revealed her, I would have thought nothing but brute force could have brought her to Mako's bed."

Amon turned that over in his mind for a moment. He had originally intended to simply turn the Avatar over to his interrogators, but then a far better option had presented itself.

He could use her for his own purposes; to test Mako's loyalty. For a long time, Amon had suspected that Mako was more attached to his old friends than he claimed to be. He had been willing to strike them down in their last encounter, true, but Amon paid little attention to that. The act of murder took only a moment, a moment often lost in the adrenaline of battle, and it could be, indeed, sometimes was, regretted afterwards.

But for Mako to hold the woman who had once been his friend, prisoner in his room, subjecting her to continued abuse and violation, that would certainly demonstrate that Mako had turned his back on friends of old permanently.

In addition, Amon was not blind to the potential power a child of Mako and Korra would have.

And yet, the Lieutenant's description of Korra's state was enough to trouble him. He knew she wouldn't have had consensual sex with Mako, he doubted the Ufire bender could pull off any sort of deliberate seduction, and the girl was much too loyal to her duties as the Avatar to bed a traitor this quickly on her own initiative, no matter how close they had once been.

"Perhaps she is not in his bed," Amon mused. "At least, not in the sense that we believed she would be. But why claim her otherwise? Unless our dear Mako is growing soft...?"

* * *

The Lieutenant said nothing, but his eyes flashed with malicious intent.

The Lieutenant stalked down the corridor like a leopard after a gazelle, approaching the door at the end silently, wanting his entrance to be as undetected as possible. He rested his hand on the knob and turned slowly, quietly only to be met with resistance, an immovable barrier against completing the rotation.

The door was locked.

"Who's there?" came Korra's voice from within the room, her tone tense and accusing.

A slow, cruel smile adorned the Lieutenant's face as he slid back down the corridor without a word.

Mako never locked his door; he had nothing of exorbitant value in his room, and only a fool would have tried to steal from Amon's apprentice. And yet, the very same morning he had slipped in to deliver a 'contraceptive' to the solitary Korra through an open door. The door had been locked shortly afterwards.

The Lieutenant knew that was no coincidence.

He was unable to hold in the soft chuckle that whispered from his throat. "How interesting..."


	6. Chapter 6

Cadence Chapter Six: Hindrance

* * *

Korra was going through the beginning steps of her meditation when she felt a dull, familiar ache begin to radiate from her abdomen.

The Avatar froze.

_'Shit!'_

She was starting her period.

Korra wasted no time; she mentally flicked through the catalogue of healing techniques in her memory, locating the one all healers were taught, the one that could halt menstruation. Katara had taught her this particular technique, feeling it would be essential on political missions when a period, and all it entailed, would be inconvenient. Korra felt this more than qualified. Sure, the actual bleeding could probably be dealt with, the mental image of Mako's face when she asked him for the necessary supplies was almost enough to tempt her into going through with it, but she didn't want even a hint of cramps to interfere with her escape.

Of course, an escape plan was yet to come to her, but she wanted to be ready when it did.

She performed the healing technique; glad it required only a minimum amount of energy and therefore knew it wouldn't leave her with any ill-effects.

Of course, it might be a bit suspicious that she wasn't having her period, because in all honesty, she wouldn't put it past to Amon to have someone monitoring what went into and out of Mako's room, but she suspected the masked man would be more pleased than suspicious. After all, he _wanted_ her pregnant, didn't he?

Korra was unable to hold in a slight grimace. The idea that Amon was waiting for her to become pregnant by Mako was disturbing on so many levels she barely knew where to begin.

In the meantime, she'd keep spitting out the Lieutenant's mixture. She knew that, since she wasn't having sex, it probably wouldn't hurt her to drink the fertility potion, but she didn't trust anything that the Lieutenant made. Drinking something he had brewed felt akin to shoving her hand down a tiger's mouth and then slapping it on the nose.

There were bad ideas, and then there were _bad ideas_. Willingly swallowing a potion that the Lieutenant had prepared felt like the latter.

"It's me!" came the sudden bark from the other side of the door, and Korra went to open it, rolling her eyes at Mako's brusqueness.

"Did anyone try to get in?" was the first thing out of his mouth when he entered.

"What, no 'hi, how was your day'?" Korra huffed. "Honestly, Mako! You're so focused on your own goals that I don't feel I'm getting what I need out of this relationship."

Her serious, affronted face lasted until the end of sentence, and then Korra dissolved into giggles.

Mako somehow managed to look long-suffering, exasperated and deeply unimpressed all at once.

_'Quite a feat for someone whose face seems to be locked on the 'default' setting,'_ Korra mused, before speaking again. "Oh, come on, Mako, lighten up and have pity on the poor shut-in; I need to get my amusement somewhere!"

"Did anyone try to get in?" he repeated.

"The Lieutenant...I think," Korra admitted. "A while after you left, the doorknob jiggled a bit, like someone tried to open it. I asked who was there, but there was nothing, so I put my eye against the keyhole and saw him walking away. And he said something, it was kinda hard to catch, but it sounded like 'interesting'."

Mako processed the implications of her statement in moments. It appeared his decision to have Korra lock the door had been a good one. Offhandedly, Mako couldn't think of any reason for the Lieutenant to seek him out, which meant that his visit would have had something to do with Korra. Mako could think of many reasons that the Lieutenant could have for intruding on the medic, none of them palatable.

But on the other hand he had just demonstrated to both Amon and the Lieutenant that he was willing to put effort into keeping Korra away from them. If they were in the least suspicious then the Lieutenant would be back.

"You have to stop trying to escape," he ordered. If the Lieutenant would now be keeping a close eye on them, Mako didn't want to think about what he would do to Korra if he caught her trying to escape.

"What?!" Korra yelled. "Why in the flameo should I do that?"

"Just do as I say!" Mako shouted, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he sought to intimidate her into obedience.

"I don't think so," Korra said, her voice lowering in volume but losing none of its ferocity and determination. "I'm not like the simpering, pandering idiots you're used to nowadays; it takes more than that to get me to listen to you! I'd like a reason!"

Mako gritted his teeth. He couldn't admit the real reason; that sounded too much like he cared what happened to her. And if she thought he was at all concerned about her well-being, only because she was in no shape to see to it herself, he couldn't quite picture what would happen, only that it might involve tears and starry eyes. Something stirred inside him, telling him that if it _didn't_ end that way, that it would be more unsettling that if it did.

"This argument is pointless," he ground out.

"Why are you persisting in it, then? Agree with me and I'll shut up."

Mako resisted the urge to curse at her and settled for slamming the bathroom door, growling in anger.

Korra sighed, both amused and infuriated at Mako's sudden switch back to icy, expressionless and demanding. He ran hot and cold like faulty plumbing.

Of course, she wasn't about to listen to his irrational demand. She'd just attempt to escape behind his back.

Some part of her wondered why she was being so snarky with him. She'd given him lip when she was Koda, sure but now it was like she couldn't stop.

* * *

Korra shifted beneath the blankets, trying to turn over as silently as possible and somehow avoid jarring the sleeping body next to her. She stared at Mako, moonlight from the window highlighting his form in silver edges, and tried to judge the approximate angle she'd need to perform the nerve pinch to render him unconscious. After his order earlier that day, she'd decided it would be better to knock him out before she attempted to escape.

Korra had reasoned that she didn't need to disguise as any particular Equalist– she just needed to disguise herself as one of the many lackeys, cover her slave collar and walk out. She'd take a set of electrified kali sticks, and tell anyone she encountered that she was taking it to the blacksmith's or something.

But she'd have to make sure Mako wouldn't try to stop her.

Korra carefully eyed the spot on his neck she would aim for. She wasn't stupid; she understood she had only one shot at this. If something went wrong, Mako would undoubtedly wake up and she knew she didn't have a hope of taking him down while he was conscious and coherent.

The blow had to be fast, strong and accurate.

But even as she raised her hand, Korra wondered if this was really necessary. Surely she could just slip out. Did she have to knock him _unconscious_? Couldn't she escape without hurting him?

Korra gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, telling herself that such a line of thought was stupid. She needed to escape, and if Mako was going to prevent her from escaping, then she had to take him out.

Her hand descended then ground to a halt in mid-air as Mako's own hand rose to close around her wrist. She jerked her gaze to his face to find smoldering, impenetrable eyes gleaming back at her in the moonlight.

Apparently, Mako was awake.

Mako had remained completely still when he woke, sensing eyes upon him. When he heard Korra's breathing – deeper and less regular than that of a sleeping person – he had known who it was. But for several moments, she hadn't moved, and he wondered if she'd simply been unable to sleep.

But then she'd shifted, her once diminished presence had flared so subtly it was almost undetectable and that's when Mako had realised what she was going to do. She was going to try to escape. He'd withdrawn his unspoken assent to her attempts, so she'd simply decided to make those attempts without his knowledge.

For a moment, he'd debated with himself, wondering if he should simply let her go but then he'd felt another presence beginning to encroach upon his senses, one that was all-too familiar.

The Lieutenant.

If Korra tried to walk out the door now she'd run straight into Amon's loyal sidekick. If he caught Korra...

So as her hand descended towards him, Mako seized her wrist to stop her.

He could see her shock written in the widening of her turquoise eyes and her sudden, swift intake of breath. Then, apparently determined to go down fighting, her other hand dove for his neck, and Mako was forced to catch that one, too.

He didn't want to speak aloud in case the Lieutenant overheard him, something told Mako it would be difficult to explain and still maintain that Korra was simply a convenient way of scratching an itch, so he settled for flicking his head towards the door in the hope Korra would understand his silent message.

She didn't, mainly because she was too busy trying to twist her body in order to kick him in the head. Even though he'd already been given ample proof of her determination and strength, it still surprised Mako. It was strange to think that, in his absence, Korra seemed to have grown a spine of pure platinum.

He jerked hard on her arms, pulling her across him and flipping them over at the same time, so it was now he who was on top of her. She managed to bring her leg between them and kicked hard, catching him in the hip and nearly throwing him off her.

Some part of his mind had thought there was something wrong with this fight, and it wasn't until this moment that he realised what it was; Korra was completely silent. She wasn't swearing, snarling, screaming. She hadn't so much as cried out.

She probably didn't want to wake anyone and call attention to her escape attempt. Mako was glad for her caution. If the Lieutenant went as far as listening at the door, all he would hear would be the sound of rustling sheets and harsh breathing, giving exactly the impression he wanted the man to have.

Of course, that did hinge on him being able to subdue Korra. It would have been effortless if he had been fighting an enemy, but Mako somehow couldn't bring himself to use his bending or any of the more painful techniques he'd been taught on her.

Besides, it shouldn't take long for him to wrestle her into stillness.

Korra bit back a savage curse as she arched her back, trying to knee Mako in the groin. Underhanded, yes, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And Korra was _desperate_. Without her Avatar strength, she was at the mercy of the laws of physics; the laws that said taller, heavier, and stronger won out.

_'Damn testosterone!'_ she thought resentfully. _'An unfair advantage in these situations if ever there was one!'_

Her arms had been pinned on either side of her head, pressed into the mattress, their tussle having sent the pillows tumbling to the floor. Mako knocked her attempt to attack his weakest point aside by raising his own leg and preventing her from connecting. In barely the space of a blink, he was straddling her hips, his legs hooking around her own to keep her from kicking him.

She thrashed, uselessly, she knew, but she needed to do something. Adrenaline lending her strength, she wriggled beneath him, trying to bite into one of his wrists and force him to release her hands. But Mako simply dropped his weight forward, resting fully atop her, the side of his face right against her own, her vision clouded by dark strands of hair.

Korra tried to move, but found she couldn't. She was pinned down, held practically immobile by Mako's weight. His legs were locked around her own, leaving her unable to kick him. His hips pressed hers into the mattress, so she couldn't get enough leverage or maneuverability to buck or twist. His chest was practically crushing her torso to the point where it was becoming an effort to breathe, and the presence of his head right beside hers left her blocked and unable to bite the arm she'd been targeting. In fact, the way his chin was digging into her shoulder meant that she couldn't even strain towards her other hand. And his grip on her wrists was so tight she couldn't so much as twist them.

Korra was left staring at the ceiling, panting harshly, every muscle in her body knotted as though sheer will could force her limbs to resist Mako's hold.

But when nothing happened, Korra relaxed beneath him, grudgingly accepting defeat. Mako was heavier than she was strong, at least with the collar around her neck, and in their current position, continued resistance would only serve to exhaust her.

But she couldn't help wriggling in his hold, her body unconsciously trying to relieve the pressure on it. Mako went rigid, but Korra paid him no heed, still shifting as she sought a position that she could breathe comfortably in.

It seemed that Mako had read her mind, because he suddenly lifted himself slightly off her, relieving the crushing weight that was hampering her breathing and putting some space between their bodies.

It wasn't a lot of space, though. Korra realised that Mako's face was now lined up with her own, so close she could feel his breath ghosting against her lips. Hesitantly, she let their eyes lock.

She could almost feel her body become charged. There was a strange light in Mako's eyes that she'd never seen before, and while she had given a non-verbal signal of surrender in their wrestling match he was showing no inclination to move away. His hands were still holding hers captive, his knees were still on either side of her hips, and while he'd relieved most of his weight, his body was still so close to hers she could feel the heat radiating off him like a physical pressure.

Korra tried to ignore the treacherous voice in her head that pointed out she just had to lean her head about a quarter of an inch forward and their lips would meet.

The sound of the door opening broke the tense moment like a glass vase shattering. Mako blinked, and Korra could feel the muscles in his hands jump against her wrist, as though he'd been startled out of something.

Korra cringed as the light from the hallway sliced into the room, and she turned her face away from the door automatically, clenching her eyes closed.

"Oh, forgive me, Mako, I didn't mean to interrupt," the Lieutenant's voice drifted to her ears.

Korra did her best not to wince, thinking of what their positions must look like. Mako had declined to lock the door during the night, apparently confident that no one would barge in while he was with her. It seemed he'd been mistaken.

"Get out!" Mako snarled.

Korra blinked.

There was a barely-detectable quiver in his voice, as though he were straining to hold something back.

The Lieutenant ignored his outburst. "Amon wants to see you."

_"Get out!" _If possible, Mako sounded even more menacing that time.

And the Lieutenant seemed to listen, because he retreated hastily, shutting the door and allowing darkness to envelope the room once again.

As soon as the door had closed, Mako practically leapt off her like her skin had caught fire. Korra was left alone on the bed, blinking rapidly as her eyes readjusted to the blackness, while the bathroom light came on and, for some odd reason, Mako seemed to be taking a shower.

Korra thought about going through with her plan of escape, but then dismissed it. The window wasn't an option, the guards would be sure to catch her, and since the Lieutenant was probably still stalking the hallways. She'd leave her escape attempt for another day.

So Korra put the pillows back on the bed, straightened the blankets, and climbed back in, determined to at least try to get some sleep. Unlikely, given what had just transpired, a huge shock adrenaline followed by a healthy dose of whatever _that_ had been when Mako pinned her, but the Avatar was nothing if not optimistic.

* * *

Mako did not have a cold shower in an effort to cool the arousal that had gripped him when he was atop Korra. On the contrary; he turned the water on as hot as he could without melting the flesh from his bones, feeling every drop sting and burn his back in twisted penance.

He'd almost…

No, not almost. He would never have done it. He hadn't even thought about it, not really...

There had just been a cold, insidious hiss in the back of his mind, whispering in a disturbing replica of Amon's voice. Whispering that he could do it. That Korra stood no chance of fighting him with the collar on. That the general Equalist population assumed he'd been making sexual use of her for days, so no one would pay attention if cries issued from his room.

The soft, slimy voice had pointed out that he could rip those ugly clothes from her body, part those well-toned legs and see if the reality compared to the fantasy.

Whether Korra consented or not.

Mako allowed the heat of the water to raise welts on his back in a kind of self-flagellation for those whispers that had crawled from the darkest corners of his soul.

A part of his mind couldn't help but wonder why he had reacted so strongly to the situation. He'd been forced to pin some woman in that way before, but with Korra it had seemed _sexual_. Perhaps it had been the darkness that had blanketed them in a false sense of intimacy; perhaps it was the fact that they'd been struggling on his bed...

Mako refused to consider the possibility that perhaps the reason he had reacted so strongly was simply because it had been _Korra_ writhing beneath him, panting for breath, every inch of her body pressed hard against his.

He'd lifted himself off her before she could become aware of his body's response, before she could become aware of the dark and twisted path his mind had taken.

The fire bender gave the hot water tap another twist.

Mako was aware that rape happened in Sound. It happened in Republic City, come to that but in Republic City, there were laws against it, punishments for those that perpetrated it; there were no such things in the Equalist faction. Many female slaves and some male, even some of the weaker followers of Amon, had endured it at some point in time.

And Mako couldn't help wondering why the prospect had never bothered him as much as it did now that Korra was among them. Was he really so blind that such abuse of basic human rights hadn't made an impression on him until he had a face to connect that abuse to? The rape of captives had been a distasteful fact in his mind, never really an injustice to be corrected until he had a hauntingly familiar face to connect to the act.

Many times since he'd staked his claim on Korra, Mako had found himself wondering why he'd done it. Wondering what had driven him to come to her aid, and to continue to try to shield her from Amon's dark intentions.

Why should he care? He would have killed her the last time they'd met...wouldn't he?

Mako wasn't so sure anymore. But when she'd been revealed and Amon had ordered his men to take her, Mako had known what her fate would be. And some part of him couldn't bear the idea of Korra suffering like that.

Now, he looked back at the slaves he'd seen who were beholden to one master, usually for sexual purposes, and wondered why he never thought it so abhorrent.

'_I won't venture to speculate what being a part of the Equalist faction has turned you into Mako…'_

Korra's words rang in his head, words he had dismissed before, but were beginning to hold an uncomfortable weight of truth.

He had told himself that the Equalist faction wouldn't change him, that he could take the power Amon offered without corrupting himself. But now, he could see that had been a foolish idea at best, outright moronic at worst.

And in that moment, some part of Mako knew he was done with the Equalists. Amon had nothing left to teach him, and the place was poisoning him.

It was easier to blame his environment than to think that he was so focused on his own goals and wants he had ignored everything else.

* * *

The next morning, neither the Lieutenant nor Amon mentioned anything about the midnight summons, which Mako took as proof that it had probably been an excuse concocted by the Lieutenant to check on him and Korra.

This interest in his sex life was fast moving from irritating to truly disturbing.

"We're moving again, Mako," the masked man informed him. "Tomorrow."

This didn't surprise Mako. Amon spent very little time in the actual Equalist faction. The fire bender suspected it was too open and exposed for his tastes; too many avenues of attack for a swift or clever assassin.

"But, of course, we have concerns about traveling with Avatar Korra," the masked man continued smoothly. "I would have suggested that you leave her here, however the Lieutenant informs me you have recently become most possessive of your little toy."

Mako took that to mean they'd assumed the locked door during the day simply meant he didn't want Korra interfered with. And that was true, though not for the reasons they seemed to suspect.

"So we just need her to travel with one of the slave trains; manacled, of course."

Mako shrugged. The small slave trains that transported the exclusives from base to base were always well-guarded, but he wasn't really concerned by that. The vast majority of Equalists would be too worried about offending him to risk hassling Korra, and as for the others...well, if Korra had managed to incapacitate nearly a dozen elites while collared, Mako suspected she could more than deal with the run-of-the-mill types even while shackled.

"Hn."

He left the room at that, dismissing Amon from his mind. He had never really respected Amon, but now that his mind was made up to leave, and leave soon, there was an extra edge of disinterest to his usual disrespect.

* * *

He found Korra staring out the window, an almost dreamy expression on her face.

"Did you know that guard down there has shouted out seven obscene suggestions and made a total of twelve provocative gestures at me in the last hour I've been at the window?" she mentioned, obviously staring at the man in question. "I think Amon should be really concerned about the IQ scores of this guy."

"Then why are you staring at him like that?" Mako muttered.

"Because I'm in the middle of a very graphic dismemberment fantasy."

"Dismemberment?"

"Yeah. I've gone through evisceration, asphyxiation, exsanguination by various methods, crushing, falling, beheading…hey, let's see if you can think up a mode of death I haven't covered yet."

"This is an infantile game, you realise that?"

"You're only saying that because you can't think of anything."

Korra grinned at him, having decided to pretend that whatever had gone on with him last night hadn't happened. That was how she'd worked around most of Mako's weird behaviour up until now, and she saw no reason to change what worked.

"We're moving again," he said, effectively cutting off their rather one-sided conversation about methods of murder. "And you have to move with the other slaves, in manacles."

Korra smirked. She had a good idea who had ordered that and why. "My little display made him that nervous, huh?"

Mako said nothing, because the only truthful statement that could have come out of his mouth was an agreement.

"And by the way," she went on. "There's one thing I've always wondered about manacles; do they come in sizes, or are they adjustable in the same way handcuffs are?"

Korra found out that it was a little of both. Apparently, the shackles that the Equalists used came in different sizes, but there was some adjustability in them, mainly because they were closed by a lock that could be slotted into one of three holes.

The Equalist tending to her yanked on her manacles after he'd closed them, ensuring they were secure.

Korra glanced down at the chains weighing down on her arms and legs, and didn't know whether to be flattered or irritated. They really thought she was going to be _this_ much trouble?

One of the guards barked at the slaves to get moving, and Korra stepped forward, the chains restricting her to an awkward, shuffling step. She knew she was lagging behind the other slaves, and half-expected a blow for it but none of the guards made a move to strike her. She wondered at it for a moment, but when she tried to look at it from her captor's point of view, she understood.

Having Mako stake his claim on her in front of what must have been half the garrison and for him to keep her confined to his room had probably told the entirety of the Equalist faction that she was _his_. The Equalists around her probably envisioned her as having a sign hanging around her neck that read: _'Property of Mako, touch on pain of death by breath of fire'._

It was rather annoying and demeaning to be thought of as property, but if it kept the guards off her back, Korra could accept it.

"Is it just me, or does Amon have a thing for underground bases?" Korra mused, looking around at the room she had been led to, automatically healing the welts the manacles had rubbed on her skin.

This room was Mako's smallest so far, though still pretty large for a room that had been built underground, and as per usual, was equipped with only the bare necessities.

"Mmm."

"That doesn't count as a reply, Mako," she hissed, staring morosely at the bare stonewalls. "Now I don't even have a window to look out of; what am I supposed to do all day?"

Mako rolled his eyes. At least now they were in the underground base, he could kill Amon without worrying about interference. In the village, their battle would have drawn a lot of attention, but if he caught the masked man in his room, underground and isolated, then Mako was certain they wouldn't be interrupted.

But in the meantime he had training to do.

One last session and then he would strike.


	7. Chapter 7

Cadence Chapter Seven: Coercion

* * *

Mako surveyed the training ground that was now scattered with fallen Equalists and chi-blockers, feeling a sense of grim satisfaction take root in his chest.

"You didn't kill any of them," Amon mused. "You're too soft."

"They aren't the one I want to kill," he said bluntly.

And it was true. Why kill someone in a training exercise? All his attackers were unconscious; he could kill them at his leisure if he chose, so at this point the killing blow meant nothing. It would be pointless.

"If you don't become merciless, you'll never win against Zolt," Amon commented.

Mako said nothing, sheathing his kali sticks and making his way towards the entrance of the underground base. It was bewildering to think that Amon saw no difference between killing lackeys in some training exercise and cutting down the murderer of his family.

The base they were staying at was much smaller than any of the others, and as such, training had to take place above ground. Mako passed the Lieutenant on the way in, ignoring the unpleasant smirk on the man's face.

"You spend less time training than you used to," the man snickered. "But then, I suppose I would, too, if I had Avatar Korra waiting for me."

Mako stiffened, and wrestled with the impulse to turn back and impress upon the Lieutenant why he shouldn't make such an insinuation.

But deep down he knew it was true. His training had suffered ever since Korra had come along with her new, sarcastic attitude that could get under his skin quicker than a parasite. This was why he'd left. Korra, and Bolin too, could make him forget his vengeance, could make him think of nothing else but their safety and happiness and that, he simply couldn't afford.

"It's me!" he barked at the solid wood door to his room, and was rewarded with the sound of a turning key before Korra threw the door open.

"You know, I've got to be honest, I'm not entirely sure this structure is stable," she informed him, glancing pointedly at the walls braced with huge posts of wood.

"It's fine," Mako told her as he began to place his kali sticks back on their rack.

The ground here _was_ rather unstable, one reason why this was the smallest of Amon's bases, and so the walls had to be braced so they wouldn't crumble. Many rooms were actually made entirely of wood, their walls used to brace the ceiling.

Korra was tapping the walls, looking them over dubiously, when Mako spoke, his voice low as though he didn't want to be overheard.

"I'm going to kill Amon."

Korra whipped around, an expression of utter disbelief plastered upon her face.

"What?" she hissed, her voice barely audible. If anyone outside heard what they were saying...

"I'm going to kill Amon," Mako repeated, picking up a set of double edged swords that Korra hadn't seen before and testing the edge of the blades. "So do not venture outside this room. Do not open the door to anyone under any circumstances, until I return."

With that, he left the room, snatching the key from the bedside table as he did so. He shut the door on Korra's outraged cry and locked it securely, pocketing the key.

Mako felt a flicker of guilt at the fact that Korra was now unable to unlock the door, but soon squashed it. He was confident he would return. There was no need for a failsafe.

He was stronger than Amon. And he probably couldn't have picked a better time to strike; Amon's body was slowly wearing out, and at the moment all that kept him anywhere approaching healthy was his dependence on various medications. But in a battle, the masked man would be far below his usual level of skill.

He came to a halt just outside Amon's door, measuring the distance between himself and the presence he could sense inside, before directing his lightning straight through the wood.

A flare of energy and the feeling of impact reverberating through the pulse of lightning to his hands told him he'd hit.

"Who's there?" came Amon's guttural snarl from inside the room, and Mako smirked.

It was the work of a moment to blast the door to pieces.

There was no real surprise in the masked man's eyes when he stepped through the wreckage, and Mako suspected Amon had always known he would never have tamely submitted to having his will.

He smirked, feeling his sense beginning to buzz all throughout his body. He would win; he knew he would!

He was stronger than Amon.

* * *

Korra muttered darkly under her breath about 'arrogant, domineering idiots' as she twisted the dagger within the lock.

She was not staying locked up in this room while Mako went off and tried to kill Amon. He was attacking _Amon_, for Spirit's sake; had that not crossed his mind? It was hardly a battle to be taken as lightly as he had made out.

The gears clicked, and Korra pushed the door open with a triumphant grin.

But now, she was presented with a hallway, stretching off in two directions and she had no idea which direction Mako had gone.

_'One day, I'm going to learn to think these things through,'_ Korra admitted. _'He's probably already attacking Amon by now...'_

Choosing not to examine exactly why she was so keen to stop Mako from rushing headlong into what was probably certain death, Korra simply picked a direction and ran down the corridor, not in the slightest bit bothered by the prospect of running into the Lieutenant or any number of Equalist lackeys.

Adrenaline had a tendency to make pesky things like 'logic' and 'forethought' fly right out the window.

* * *

Mako eyed the spiral of water that coiled above him, the spiral slowly solidifying to ice. He'd made to electrocute Amon and put an end to the masked man in a matter of moments but had failed to take into account the immediate access to water that Amon had in his quarters.

After a few moments, Mako came to conclusion that Amon had somehow managed to nullify Mako's lightning bending, and while he hated to admit it, Mako was more than impressed at him having done so.

Mako was snapped out of his thoughts when Amon manipulated the spiral of water above him, aiming the sharp edge directly towards Mako's skull.

Mako leapt into the air to avoid Amon's lunge, but the water suddenly elongated, splitting into two and twisting through the air towards him.

Mako had drawn his kali sticks from their sheath and sent electric pulses ripping through the water before he'd even hit the ground.

The masked made a spitting noise, and at once manipulated more water into the form that Mako could only describe as an octopus; Amon now wielded eight separate arms of water, sinuous with razor sharp tips dove towards him. Mako sheathed his kali sticks and pulled his arms through his shirtsleeves, discarding his shirt and therefore creating a diversion.

The water cocooned him like lassos however it was quicky evaporated when thick, orange flames engulfed Mako's body.

Slowed by surprise, Amon had no time to react before Mako had cleaved his body neatly into the three pieces, dark blood splattering across the floor. The man choked, convulsed and fell, lying limp in the pools of crimson fluid.

Mako blinked down at the body as the flames receded. That was it? Amon must have been at the very end of his endurance, to have been defeated so quickly.

Mako took a deep breath and then felt his muscles spasm as though an electrical current had been run through his body. He coughed, dropping to one knee as his muscles continued to jump and quiver like a host of creepy-crawlies were writhing under his skin.

And worse still, he was slowly losing sensation in his fingers and toes.

The supposedly-dead man rose from the ground, making his way over to loom over him once more. "Surely, you didn't think that I could be defeated so easily, Mako."

"I cannot be destroyed," Amon lulled. "Your bending means nothing against me. I wonder, will your sweet little Korra be able to save you before it's too late?"

Mako set his jaw, staring the man down. Strangely, he didn't even feel so much as a prickle of fear; he knew he was safe. If this was to be a mental battle, then Amon had no hope. Whatever tricks he tried to use to consume him, Mako's mental strength would overcome.

* * *

Korra swore when she reached an intersection of hallways. Three tunnels loomed before her and she didn't have the foggiest idea which one she should take. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and spun around in a circle several times, hoping she wouldn't smack into one of the walls, before taking one step forward and opening her eyes.

Her foot was pointing down the left corridor, so that was the one Korra took.

* * *

Wherever Mako was, it was very dark. He couldn't see more than few feet in front of him, and the ground was cold, almost ice cold.

It was, he realised, rather like he had been tossed into a giant freezer.

What the hell was this place?

"This is a cooler. It's specifically designed to put a stop to fire benders ability to bend." came Amon's voice from behind him.

Mako whirled around as Amon began to emerge from the shadows, his face still veiled by his trademark mask.

"This is where I will destroy you," he snarled, his voice full of malcontent.

Instantly, Mako found the same icy coils the masked man had formed earlier wrapping about his own body, and he understood that they, in some way, represented Amon's cold-hearted demeanor.

And therein laid his weakness; he was simply cold and calculating, unable to formulate a plan in the heat of the moment. He was, in every way imaginable, the polar opposite of Mako: Mako, who was hot-headed, passionate and fiercely protective of those whom he cared for.

And no amount of force, neither physical nor emotional, would bring about Mako's downfall.

As the mass that was Amon's ince bending lumbered towards him, Mako worked his own will on the element of lightning, warping and twisting the raw energy between his fingers so that the cooler had become not a haven for Amon, but a weapon against him. He saw realisation widen the Equalist's eyes as the coils that were meant to engulf the Amon began to engulf him instead.

And Mako knew that he'd won.

* * *

Fortunately, it seemed that Korra had gone in the right direction, because as she continued down the twisting, turning corridor she could feel the air become heavy, a slight tang of electricity in the air, as though two individual energy sources had recently been in outright contest.

Was she too late?

Korra saw the bloodstains smeared across the floor, and homed in on the room they seemed to have come from.

"Mako, you're-hey!" Korra stopped mid-sentence as she caught sight of the fire bender collapsed in a heap on the cold, hard ground. "Mako!"

Mako lifted his head; his face lined with exhaustion "I thought I told you not to leave the room…"

"Yeah, and my grandmother told me not to be the Avatar," she tossed back automatically. "Ignoring that; what happened here?"

Upon closer inspection, she saw that Mako's left forearm was covered in what Korra could only guess was lightenberg figures; fractal scarring from having fired a continuous bolt of lightning and redirected the feedback at the same time.

If Korra wasn't so concerned over Mako's dwindling condition she would have admitted that she was beyond impressed; Mako had displayed a level of fire-bending mastery she'd never witnessed. He'd made himself a human circuit. Something no other fire-bender had ever done before.

She made her way over to him, kneeling down beside him, taking his hand in hers as he gripped it for support. "Mako?"

Instead of answering, Mako took her arm and practically dragged her from the room.

"Hey, what do you-"

"We'll freeze if we stay here any longer," he said wearily.

"Oh."

As they exited the cooler room, Mako leaning heavily against Korra for support, she was startled when they rounded corner and found the Lieutenant was directly outside the room. Had he only just arrived, or had she not noticed him before?

The lieutenant was staring at Mako as though he had never seen him before. Korra slowed in puzzlement as they passed him, but Mako's hand on her upper arm compelled her to pick up her pace again.

"What did you do?" she heard the Lieutenant ask.

Mako stopped, half-turning towards the older man. Korra, too, went still. She was unaware of the proceedings of Mako and Amon's battle.

"What do you think?" Mako said, the faintest hint of triumph evident in his voice.

The Lieutenant went stiff for a moment, and Korra tensed.

"Amon is dead..." The Lieutenant said faintly, blinking hard and looking pale enough for Korra to wonder if he were going to pass out. "But…how…?"

"I turned his own element against him," Mako stated matter-of-factly.

Then he stumbled on, pulling Korra after him and apparently dismissing the Lieutenant.

"You did?" Korra gaped. "So that...the scars on your arms, that _is_ fractal scarring?"

"Yes," Mako nodded, not caring to go into further explanation.

"So...Amon isn't a problem anymore?"

Another nod.

Korra sensed that this was her moment.

"So...you'll be coming back to Republic City, then?"

Mako's eyes were nothing like the liquid amber orbs that Korra associated with the fire-bender when he turned back to her. "No."

Korra gritted her teeth in order to suppress the urge to slap some sense into him. She had to be calm and rational about this. _'Make nice, Korra, make nice...'_

"Why not?"

"I would have thought that was obvious. We are on different paths, Korra. We have nothing to do with each other now."

_'And yet, who's the one dragging your sorry ass down the corridor?'_ she thought mutinously.

"Mako, looking at this logically, you have a better chance of finding, and thereby, eliminating, Zolt if you come back to Republic City. Zolt is out there somewhere; we're bound to encounter him again sooner or later."

"No."

"...are you that pig-headed, or just that stupid?"

'_That degenerated quickly_,' she mused. _'What happened to making nice?'_

Mako glared at her, but Korra wasn't deterred in the slightest.

"You may think you've broken your bonds or whatever crap you keep telling yourself, but Bolin and I are not going to give up on you," she hissed, low, savage and determined.

"I have to do this!" Mako snarled, spinning around and pinning her against the wall, his hands pressing her arms back against the rough stone. "No one else but me!"

"Really?" Korra spat. "I suppose that makes sense...you never did like letting anyone else in. When will you realise you're not alone?!"

"Korra!" Mako hissed, some part of him wondering why Korra could rile him like no one else. If anyone else had said something like that, he would have ignored them. But with Korra, he could practically feel his apathetic mask cracking, giving way to fury.

"Why? Why do you feel you have to play the part of the hell-bent vengeful teenager? What can you possibly hope to achieve by killing him?!" Korra shrieked.

The 'making nice' plan seemed to have left in the dust. But truthfully, Korra didn't feel like making nice anymore because it was feeling so good to finally air these wounds.

"Nothing," she went on, lowering her volume a touch so she could be sure he heard every word. "Killing Zolt will not provide you with any sense of relief. Forget about revenge. The fate of those who seek revenge is grim. It's tragic, you will end up suffering and hurting yourself even more. Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, the only thing that remains is emptiness. I don't get it Mako, why can't you be more like Bolin? Bolin, he fights for the people he loves and doesn't hide behind a stupid, hate filled goal or use his childhood trauma as an excuse!"

Mako experienced such an extreme bout of fury that his vision actually went white, the whole world obscured by the force of his rage. When he could see again, his fingers were gripping Korra's arms so tightly he'd lifted her off the floor.

But Korra didn't seem intimidated in the least by his display. Her face was twisted into a snarl like that of a vengeful tigress, and her own hands were wrapped around his biceps, her blunt nails digging into his skin.

Mako had the feeling she was only strangling his arms because she hadn't been able to reach his neck.

With a small thrill of horror, Mako realised he had come dangerously close to losing all control. Of letting his emotions get the better of him. Even though from the age of eight when his parents had been killed he had spent every waking moment repressing and harnessing them, trying to ensure they would not intrude on his mind and cloud his thoughts it had taken barely two minutes of conversation with Korra for him to regress back to the hot-headed blindness he had worked so hard to stamp out.

He lowered her back to the floor abruptly, his grip on her relaxing but he did not release her entirely.

Korra could almost see a shutter slide over Mako's face, locking himself away from her once again.

Korra watched, and some part of her despaired. When his face had twisted and he'd lifted her off the ground like that, she'd seen it as encouragement, proof that she was actually getting through to him.

But now there was nothing.

Korra ground her teeth together until her jaw ached. Her eyes stung sharply, but she refused to cry. She had shed enough tears over Mako.

He wasn't going to listen to her; nothing she said would work. For now, at least, Mako was too focused on killing Zolt to even consider returning to Republic City.

Better to leave him now, quit her captivity and return home. Bolin, Tenzin, Asami and her parents had to be out of their minds with worry by now. She hate to think how the Air bender kids were coping with her disappearance.

"So, that being said, I'll go back to my duties as the Avatar now," she muttered, trying to move past him, expecting his hands to slip off her arms...

But his grip simply tightened once more. "No…"

Korra stared at him. Of all the responses she had expected, Mako's blatant refusal to let her go hadn't been among them.

Mako himself didn't like what he was doing. The little display barely a minute ago had proved that having Korra around damaged his prized self-control. But there was no other course of action.

While the collar remained on, Korra remained vulnerable. Perhaps she would remain safe and unmolested as she journeyed back to Republic City but there was always the possibility that perhaps she wouldn't.

He knew nothing about the mechanisms involved in the collar, so he couldn't remove it himself. On another note he probably should have forced the Lieutenant to remove it before he had scampered off to wherever it was he had run to. The needle was positioned dangerously close to the spinal column; if he attempted to remove it without knowing exactly what he was doing, he ran the risk of crippling or killing her.

He couldn't leave her, and he couldn't return to Republic City, not while Zolt was still alive...

That left only one option.

"You're coming with me," he said shortly, and resumed hauling her down the corridor.

"_What?!_" Mako winced as Korra's voice reached uncomfortable decibels. "You have got to be kidding me!"

He paid no attention to her protests and simply continued down the corridor; couldn't she see this was for her own good?

He'd gotten perhaps ten meters before he began to feel the strain. Dragging Korra wasn't as easy as he'd anticipated; muscle was heavier than fat, which meant Korra had more weight to her frame than her slender build would suggest. And of course, seeing as she was a bender, the muscles in question were toned and well-used, and could put a lot of force into resisting him.

"Korra," he said eventually, swinging her around to stand in front of him. "You are coming with me, like it or not. I would prefer not to have to knock you out and carry you around as a dead weight, but I will do it if you continue to resist me."

Korra gave him a glare that he could almost feel scorching the hems of his clothing. But she relaxed in his grip, muttering a grudging assent. _'I'd like to see you try the state you're in.'_

Mako nodded once in approval, and made for the lower levels, Korra trailing behind him.

His ears were sharp enough to catch her hiss of, "What happened to being on different paths and having nothing to do with each other?"

Mako could hear the bitterness in Korra's voice, but dismissed it. Eventually, she would realise this was for her own good. He may not feel much companionship for her, but he had no choice; he couldn't let her wander helpless in the wilderness, at the mercy of any halfway-talented enemy who stumbled across her.

And yet, while Mako justified his decision to himself, he never once thought about the dozen elites Korra had felled while collared.

* * *

Korra stared at the tall wooden cages surrounding her and Mako, confused and not quite sure what to make of them. She of course had no idea what lay behind the doors of the wooden crates, only noting that each and every one were of different sizes.

More importantly, she wondered, what did Mako want with them?

Korra shook her head, some part of her mind still dazed and reeling from Mako's abrupt declaration that she would be coming with him. She still had no idea why he'd done it. Just when she had decided to leave him be, he had suddenly said she would be attached to his side for the remainder foreseeable future.

Korra was convinced that she had either inherited her mentor's abysmal luck, or that the whole karma and reincarnation thing was true and she was making up for having been some sort of evil, sadistic mastermind in her past life. _'It'd make sense if it were true, Kiyoshi _was_ the Avatar after all…'_

She hung back, walking a little behind Mako as he strode through the crates, finally stopping in front of one. Korra couldn't see any distinguishing marks on it, but Mako seemed to know what he was doing.

"So, it's you," came a foreign, male voice. A voice resonated from within the wooden crate. "You defeated Amon, then..."

"Yeah," Mako deadpanned, the slightest touch of arrogance in his voice. "More importantly, I'm going to get you out of there."

His double-edged daggers flashed, slicing the wood, causing splinters to scatter onto the floor. Korra watched silently, wondering whom it was that would emerge from behind the wooden crate.

She noted that the room began to become exceedingly warm and moment later her eyes darted to the floor where she noted a pool of lava spilling out from the center of the crate. The edges of the enormous pool pulsed, ripples spreading through the molten liquid as a man's head and shoulders emerged from the crate.

"Ghazan, you're the first," Mako said. "Come with me."

"Me first?" the man questioned. "So there'll be others...?"

Korra stared with utter fascination as she watched the well-built figure of a man slowly solidify the ground once more.

"There's something you don't see every day," she muttered to herself.

The onyx-haired man glanced at her, his attention obviously arrested when she spoke. "Who's the hot chick; your girlfriend?"

Korra snorted derisively as she scratched at her collar.

"Ah, got one of those collars on, eh?" Ghazan noted, looking her up and down avidly. "Pleasure slave, then?"

Mako found himself irritated by Ghazan's blatant appraisal of Korra. "She's not your concern."

"Just finding out who I'm traveling with," Ghazan shrugged.

"Yeah, well, if it was up to me, I wouldn't be traveling with you at all," Korra grumbled, eyeing the wooden crates. Were there more Lava benders being kept here?

"Ooh, she's feisty!" Ghazan grinned. "If you don't want to do her, Mako, I'll take her!"

It might have been Korra's imagination, but she thought Mako's expression became a little more severe at that remark.

"There are two others. I'll be taking Zaheer from the Northern headquarters and Ming Hua from the Southern headquarters," the fire bender continued, ignoring Ghazan's comment.

Korra was a little confused at the mention of others, but she didn't want to ask. The sooner she got back to Republic City the better, and the less she knew about Mako's plans, the more likely he would be to let her go.

Of course, considering how insistent he'd been, having threatened to knock her out to bring her with him, Korra didn't hold out much hope of that happening.

"Your choice of teammates is crazy, Mako," Ghazan said bluntly. Then his eyes wandered to Korra once more, and he amended, "Well...maybe not that crazy..."

Korra's eyes narrowed as he reached toward her, his fingers curving as though to stroke her cheek. She was far from full strength, but she knew a few moves that could certainly break a bone or two...

"Ghazan!" Mako snapped, his indifferent demeanor turning harsh and commanding. "Any hand that touches her I will remove at the wrist."

Both Korra and Ghazan turned to him, Korra startled at his intervention and Ghazan looking annoyed. But Mako didn't allow so much as a flicker to cross his face. He had never heard of Ghazan raping anyone, but with the collar on, Korra was in a very vulnerable position. He had to make sure Ghazan understood that she wasn't to be touched.

"You're acting rather high and mighty," the onyx-haired man drawled.

"When isn't he?" Korra muttered.

Korra didn't even see Ghazan move. One moment, he was directly in front of her, and the next, he was right behind Mako, his index finger pressing against the fire bender's head in a blatant threat.

Korra tensed automatically. While she wasn't particularly fond of Mako at this point in time, she had no desire to see him killed!

"Let's get a few things straight, okay?" Ghazan drawled. "You're not in charge just because you took Amon down. Everyone was after him; someone was bound to kill him eventually, you just had more chances than the rest of us."

"What's your point?" Mako asked, sounding uninterested.

"That I've got the upper hand now," Ghazan grinned. "I can sense your little chickadee is tougher than your usual brand of slaves, but with that collar on, she's not going to be able to do anything to help you."

The tableau dragged on for long, charged moments as Korra wondered if there was anything she should do, anything she _could_ do. She mentally cursed the inanimate chunk of metal and leather around her throat to eternal damnation.

But then the tension was broken as Ghazan lifted his finger away from Mako's temple. "Just kidding!"

Korra relaxed, but only by a fraction.

"I've heard rumours about your strength from way back," Gazhan continued. "Your probending team was the one who defeated the three time Champtions 'The White Falls Wolfbats', right? In fact-" he suddenly swung to face Korra again, "If memory serves me correctly, the Avatar played for the team…Avatar Korra, right?"

"Congratulations," Korra deadpanned. "You show the associative abilities of a chimpanzee."

Ghazan laughed, his gaze running over her once again. "You're a real firecracker, aren't you? Enough spirit for someone three times your size."

He pouted at Mako. "Sure you won't share her?"

Mako's expression shifted to a glare more savage than any Korra had ever seen before.

"Okay, okay..." Ghazan held up his hands in a mollifying position. "I get it, I get it – she's off-limits!"

"'_She'_ is right here!" Korra growled. "And '_she_' does not appreciate being discussed like a piece of meat!"

Ghazan chuckled, but apparently decided to drop the line of conversation, because he turned back to Mako. "I'll go with you. But before we get the others, can we take a quick detour? There's somewhere I need to go."

Mako shrugged, and Korra took that to mean that he didn't care.

"Well, considering that you now have a new companion, Mako…" Korra began slowly, edging towards the exit. "I'll just be on my way, now..."

Mako was in front of her so quickly she didn't even see him move.

"I hate it when you do that," she hissed.

"Don't make me force you, Korra," Mako said, his voice level.

Ghazan watched with interest. When Korra had begun to move towards the exit, he had expected Mako to at least knock her to the floor to impress his authority upon her. But he hadn't, choosing instead to block her route in a way that was certainly domineering, though hardly what Ghazan would call 'threatening'. And when he told her not to make him force her, Ghazan was startled to realise that Mako seemed to truly mean it. He honestly didn't want to hurt the woman in front of him.

Ghazan had no idea who she was, but one thing was very clear; in Mako's world, this woman had been given a different set of rules than the rest of them.

Turquoise eyes flashed, Korra's fists clenched, and she spun on her heel, her expression brimming with anger and frustration.

"You really are being held against your will, aren't you?" Ghazan mused.

"Yeah," she spat, glaring at him. "Took you that long to catch on?"

He looked at her, noting the complete lack of any sort of discomfiture. "I can understand Mako's non-reaction, but you seem pretty unconcerned about having a half-naked man in front of you. You're not even blushing."

"Master Katara trained me in the art of healing" she explained shortly. "Naked male bodies are hardly new to me."

Mako's amber eyes narrowed, and he felt a flash of something close to jealousy.

"If you say so, Princess," Ghazan smirked.

One chocolate brown eyebrow rose slowly. "Princess?"

Ghazan's smirk deepened, and he went looking for his clothes without further comment.

He chose not to point out that the title of 'princess' did seem to fit. The exotic mocha complexion, the fiery spirit, and the fact that Mako was treating her with more care than he'd ever believed the fire bender capable of showing made her seem like some sort of goddess.

Not that he'd be telling her or Mako that.

* * *

Yay for a new chapter! As always, review and let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Cadence Chapter Eight: Anguish

* * *

So...what's your story?" Ghazan asked.

Korra glanced at him. "What story?"

"The..." Ghazan made a vague motion towards his neck. "How'd you get saddled with that?"

"An altruistic impulse outweighed my self-preservation instincts."

"Really?"

Korra rolled her eyes. "I was exhausted when I stumbled across a group of travelers being taken as slaves by Sound. I fought with the Equalists rather than slink silently past and bam, here I am. Being dragged up hill and down dale by a jerk."

"You're not fond of Mako, are you?"

"Not at the moment, no."

Ghazan smirked. "So, you're a healer as well as the Avatar, huh?"

"Yeah, but my abilities are kind of limited with the collar on." Korra ran a finger across the metal lock for emphasis.

"But they're still pretty top-notch, right? I mean, Mako must have a good reason for bringing you along."

"Well, if he happens to let it slip, could you tell me what it is?"

Mako listened to the conversation in front of him with only half an ear. Korra had remained silent all throughout their journey out of the Equalist base, seeming to disdain walking with either him or Ghazan, and instead planted herself in the middle, striding along between them and occasionally muttering darkly under her breath.

Eventually, Ghazan had slid back and tried to engage her in conversation. His first attempts had been rebuffed rather rudely, but as he persisted, Korra's frosty attitude had gradually mellowed. It was obvious she was still a little wary of the black-haired man, though she was now talking easily with him.

Mako told himself he wasn't envious.

"Ah, cheer up, Princess," Ghazan grinned, feeling tempted to give her a hearty pat on the back but wary of giving Mako reason to enact his threat. "It could be worse."

Korra gave a rather inelegant snort. "True. That's the depressing thing about life; it can always get worse."

Ghazan chuckled again and in spite of herself, Korra found herself feeling a certain liking for him. He was vicious and crude, yes, but his daring grin and carefree attitude reminded her of Bolin, in a way.

Plus, it was nice to talk to someone who possessed actual conversational skills.

"So, where are we going, out of curiosity?" she asked.

"Sokka's grave," Ghazan explained. "I want his sword."

Korra blinked, casting her mind back and trying to remember if there had been anything particularly unusual about Sokka's sword, besides its size, of course. And then it clicked. Tenzin had once told her that his uncle's sword had been seen cutting through over a foot of solid steel. Whoever wielded this sword would be capable of taking on the world's strongest benders.

"Do you mean The Heaven's Sword?"

"Bingo, Princess," he grinned. "You're a clever one, aren't you?"

Korra shrugged, blinking as they emerged from the trees and she found herself facing the Great Nuktuk Bridge. She felt a nostalgic smile curl her lips and, when she risked a glance at Mako, she was startled to see him staring at the sign as well, his expression almost..._fond_.

"What's up with you two?" Ghazan asked, taking another swig of water.

"It's nothing," Mako said. "Let's go."

Korra trailed behind the two males as they crossed the Nuktuk Bridge, glancing down at the water that frothed and surged below them. For a civilian, it would have been suicide to attempt to swim it, but for a bender, and a water bender at that, it wouldn't be so much of an issue...

A bender probably had a very good chance of reaching land. If she just jumped off the side and struck out, staying underwater for as long as possible...

"Don't even think about it," Mako snapped, grabbing her arm just above the elbow and guiding her back to the middle of the bridge.

"I was just looking at the water!" she protested.

Mako said nothing, but Ghazan chuckled. "Come on, Princess, even I wouldn't be taken in by that one."

"Screw you, Lava boy," Korra groused.

Ghazan only laughed harder. "Anytime, Princess. Just not where your boyfriend might find us; he seems like the jealous type."

Korra rolled her eyes while Mako glared savagely at the other man.

Still, Korra thought it was interesting to note that he didn't release her arm until they had finished crossing the bridge.

* * *

"There it is," Korra said, nodding at the grave she had visited many years ago with Master Katara, Tenzin and his family. She didn't like the idea of Ghazan taking the sword, but she was in no position to argue against him doing so.

Ghazan grinned, wrapping his fingers around the handle of the gigantic blade eagerly. He pulled it from the ground, hefting it in his hands as though to test the weight of the sword. "It's pretty heavy..."

"You think?" Korra quipped sarcastically. "Wonder why?"

"Ouch, Princess, put that sharp tongue away before you cut yourself," Ghazan smirked, letting the sword rest on the ground once more.

Korra noticed the slight trembling of his muscles as he lowered it. "No offense intended to the man with the big sword, but do you think you can actually wield that thing?"

"The blades made under Piando are supposed to be passed down from generation to generation. I am his Piando's grandson, and so, the sword is rightfully mine, even if Sokka was the one who forged it" Ghazan narrated, fastening a thick leather strap around the blade.

"You didn't actually answer my question," Korra pointed out.

"Don't worry about me, Princess. I'll handle this thing just fine."

Korra shrugged, watching as Ghazan used the strap to secure the sword to his back.

"Alright, let's head off," he said at last. "The closest one first, right?"

"Um...guys?" Korra tried, pointing to where the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon. "Unless this person is within a few kilometers or so of here, we're going to be traveling in the dark."

"So we'll stay at an inn somewhere first," Ghazan shrugged. "You got any cash, Mako?"

Korra knew he had. Before they had gone to find Ghazan, Mako had collected a lot of money from Equalist's treasury.

"He's got money," she said shortly. "Let's go find somewhere nice."

* * *

"So, are we going to get three rooms, are you going to be cheap and only get one?" Ghazan asked.

"We will get two rooms," Mako told them.

"What, one for us and another for Princess?"

For a moment, Korra dared to hope that she might be able to slip out and away in the dead of night. But those hopes were dissipated by Mako's reply.

"No; one room is for you, the other will be mine and Korra's."

Korra bit her lip against the urge to shriek 'why?' She knew why; Mako had anticipated her, and so moved to veto her escape attempt before it had even begun.

"I knew you were shagging her," Ghazan muttered, his voice low.

Mako shot him a quelling look and Korra pretended she hadn't heard him.

* * *

Korra turned on the shower, letting the warm water rush over her skin with a sigh of relief. It had been difficult to smile politely at the concierge as Mako ushered her into the hotel, when all she'd really wanted to do was scream for him to alert Republic City.

But the man was a civilian; everyone here was a civilian, and she wasn't going to put their lives and health on the line by getting them mixed up in her problems.

What was worse, the room Mako had bought for them had a double bed. She suspected the hotel employees were operating under the delusion they were lovers. But Korra was determined that they would not be sharing the bed; she'd had enough of that, thank you very much, and would prefer to use the couch.

Korra wrapped the towel around herself as she stepped out of the shower, taking the opportunity provided by the tall mirror to examine her collar again. She knew there was probably no way for her to remove it, but she couldn't resist checking it at every chance she had, just in case inspiration struck her.

She felt like one of those kids who asked if it was Christmas yet every day as soon as December rolled around.

But the more she examined, prodded, picked at or just tried to force the collar, the more she became convinced it couldn't be removed by any ordinary means. She was certain there was some sort of trick to it; there had to be, Korra refused to think about the possibility that the collar might never come off, that it was designed to be worn until death.

If she got back to Republic City, Lin would surely figure out a way to get the damn thing off her but she had to get away from Mako first.

She couldn't help but wonder exactly what the collar allowed her to do. She couldn't sense energy anymore, but could she still affect her own? Raise it and lower it at will?

She tried to shift into the Avatar state. But nothing happened. She couldn't feel the slightest shift in her energy levels. Of course, the collar only allowed her a small amount, and it was conceivable that anything above that level was simply cut off.

So Korra tried to suppress her energy levels instead, in the same way she'd hide from detection during a stealth mission. And she felt it work; her own energy dampened beneath her will, muffling her presence.

Korra barely had time to grin at herself in the mirror before the door to the bathroom was thrown open and Mako blew in like a hurricane.

Korra yelped and spun around, painfully aware that she was covered by nothing but a thin towel. "_What in the flameo are you doing?"_

Mako blinked, stared at her for a moment in complete silence, his amber eyes widening at the sight before him, before promptly exiting the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a harsh slam.

Korra stared at the door, completely dumbfounded. What had just happened?

"Hey!" she yelled through the door. "What was that all about?"

"Do not suppress your energy again," came Mako's voice from their room, sounding slightly strained.

Korra finally understood. When her presence had winked out in the bathroom, Mako had had charged into the room, most likely thinking she was making another attempt at escape.

And instead, he'd gotten an eyeful. Korra found herself grateful she'd at least been wearing the towel. How embarrassing would it have been if Mako had walked in while she was naked?

She dressed hastily, grimacing as she tugged on the brown clothes she'd had since her capture, telling herself that she really needed some new clothes. She would love to have heard what lie Mako had concocted to explain her apparel to the people at the reception.

Forget her attire; she'd love to know what they thought the collar was. Maybe they assumed she was making some kind of bizarre fashion statement?

She stepped out of the bathroom, trying not to giggle when she noticed that Mako was pointedly looking anywhere but at her. Korra seized the pillows from one half of the bed and tossed them on the couch, arranging them neatly at one end.

"What are you doing?" Mako asked as she pulled a spare blanket out of the closet.

"I am not sleeping in that bed with you," Korra said bluntly. "I mean, now that we don't have to fool a pair of sadists into thinking that we're screwing each other, there's no point."

Mako's eyebrows lowered, and he tried not to think about the fact that he was feeling almost hurt by her statement.

Before he could response the door clicked open, and Ghazan strode in.

"Why are you here?" Mako snapped, clearly irritated.

"I was bored," he shrugged, noticing Korra setting up her makeshift bed on the couch. "You made Princess take the couch?"

"No, _I_ decided I would take the couch," Korra corrected.

"So you _aren't_ shagging her?" Questioning Mako.

"_NO!_" Korra exploded, her tension boiling over. "I am not his wife, or his girlfriend, or his lover or his 'pleasure slave'. We are not fucking each other, we are not fondling and we are not kissing. We are not doing _anything_ remotely sexual!"

"Yeesh, I'm sorry I asked."

Korra forced her hands to relax from the fists they'd become, hoping her righteous anger would cool.

Ghazan, meanwhile, had turned back to Mako. "So, you're not making a move on Princess...does that mean you really _are_ gay? Because I kinda wondered..."

Korra couldn't help it. She burst into laughter; real, deep, full-belly laughter. She clutched her stomach as the force of her wheezes almost doubled her over. She risked a glance towards Mako only to have the expression on his face send her into another fit of hysterical guffaws.

"You're pretty cheerful, aren't you?" Ghazan pointed out.

"For a kidnap victim, I suppose I am."

"...You really don't want to be here, do you?"

"What was your first clue?" she growled.

Mako was surprised at the flash of hurt that coursed through him. Once, she would have been happy to follow him...

He didn't know why, but something drove him to remind her of it. "I distinctly recall you offering you to come with me once."

Korra stiffened. "Maybe so, but I was a love struck teenage girl who had deluded herself into believing there was some good in you. I don't think anything I said that night can be taken seriously."

She was lying, of course; there was one part of that confession, more than a little embarrassing, that she had truly meant. And still meant, to her regret.

'_I will always love you...'_

"So it was a lie?" Mako asked quietly, and there was something in his eyes that told Korra he wasn't talking about her vow to help him.

She forced her lips into a smirk and turned her back on him, effectively dismissing their conversation. She didn't trust her abilities as an actor that far, not if she was looking him in the face.

"Well...maybe not at the time, but they'd certainly be a lie now."

And maybe if she kept telling herself that, she'd believe it one day.

"Now..." Korra shook her head. "Now...I'd never be here with you willingly."

"But you are here nonetheless," Mako said, his voice harsh. "And you'll remain with me until I say otherwise."

Ghazan simply watched them, musing on the fact that the first image that came to mind was that of a wave breaking against a rock. Korra was the wave, gathering force and power, smashing itself against the hard rock that was Mako and being dissipated against it's surface, left to withdraw and try again.

At first glance, it looked like the rock had won. But Ghazan knew better. Little by little, each wave wore the rock away, while the wave remained unchanged. In the end, it was the rock that yielded, not the waves.

Something told him this was the same. Mako might be standing strong against Korra at the moment, but it was only a matter of time before the tables were turned.

Mako watched Korra continue to arrange her bed, not paying any attention to him or making any effort to continue the conversation and felt strangely lost. It was a shock to realise that Korra's feelings for him had been almost a comfort of some sort; after all, if Korra could love him, there had to be something good in him, right?

But now she was saying she didn't anymore. That anything she might have felt for him was long gone.

And he was bizarrely, irrationally angry. Wasn't this what he'd wanted; for her to forget about him?

Then why did the reality of it make him want to tear something to pieces?

* * *

Korra tossed and turned on the couch, unable to get to sleep. It wasn't that her bed was uncomfortable; on the contrary, the couch was quite nice; soft but firm enough so she wasn't swallowed by it however her earlier argument with Mako kept reeling through her head.

She refused to admit she felt a little guilty. For Spirit's sake, the man had practically gloated about holding her prisoner; she was _not_ going to feel guilty about lying to him.

So she shut her eyes and thought of other things, willing her mind back to Republic City and of home, reliving happier times, but no Fire Ferret memories, she was staying well away from those, and hoping her mind would eventually calm enough for her to drift off again.

For his part, Mako couldn't sleep either. But he didn't move around as he could hear Korra doing; instead he held himself perfectly still, hoping that eventually the exhaustion of the day would outweigh the agitation of his mind.

The time crawled by, measured in his slow, steady breaths as he tried to will his body into slumber. He heard the rustling of Korra's movement subside, her own breathing beginning to slow and even out as she slipped away from the conscious world.

Strangely, the knowledge that she was sleeping peacefully merely feet from him soothed Mako into sleep more quickly than any meditation could have.

* * *

Mako's eyes flew open and his hand reached for his kali sticks in the darkness, ready to defend himself against whatever had awoken him. He didn't want to risk using his bending, as it would reveal his presence in the dark room.

Then he realised there was no presence in the room save his and Korra's. He hadn't been awoken by an intruder, but by the soft whimpers and moans coming from his roommate.

Mako propped himself up on one elbow, squinting through the dark room in an effort to pinpoint the source of her distress. But there was nothing; Korra's eyes were still tightly shut, and the stilted, jerky movements that accompanied those small sounds told Mako she was in the grip of some kind of nightmare.

Hardly knowing why he was doing it, he rose from the bed and silently crossed the room.

Now that he was closer, Mako noticed small trails of tears streaked down her mocha cheeks glimmering in the moonlight, and realised that whatever Korra was dreaming about was causing her such anguish that she was actually crying.

He also realised, with a small shock, that this was the first time he'd seen her cry in more than a year. In fact, despite the fact that events of the past weeks had to have been rather harrowing for her, the last time he could remember seeing Korra cry was when he defected from Republic City.

The sleeping woman flinched, her tiny cry drawing him out of his thoughts. He watched her brow furrow, her face twisting into a pained expression and his hand was reaching out for her before he could stop it.

His fingers stroked through her hair, whispering gently across her face. She twitched and Mako snatched his hand back as though he'd been burned.

But when she didn't wake, his hand gravitated back towards her as though pulled by a magnet. His fingers rubbed over the frown lines on her forehead as though they could be smoothed like wet clay.

And to his astonishment, they were. Whether the feel of a hand on her face had comforted her or a new sensation had broken the rhythm of the nightmare, Korra's face relaxed by gradual inches, the knotted muscles underneath his fingers slowly losing their tension.

It was only when she sighed and tried to snuggle into the caress that Mako withdrew, feeling suddenly uncomfortable, as though he'd exposed some raw, vulnerable part of himself.

He slipped back into the bed, taking care to be as silent as possible so as to not rouse Korra.

* * *

Korra opened her eyes to soft morning light, awakened by the sound of the shower. A quick glance towards the bed found it empty, and Korra assumed Mako was preparing for the day ahead.

She pushed the blanket off her, grimacing as she tried to straighten her clothes; they had crumpled horribly during the night, and while Korra wasn't one to be worried over her appearance, the thing was just very uncomfortable.

She wondered if she could persuade Mako to buy her some new clothes.

She broached the subject as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom. "I need new clothes."

Mako looked her over, but Korra was not to be deterred, and ploughed on before he could say anything. "These clothes are stiff, itchy and do very little for my freedom of movement. If you're going to drag me around like a recalcitrant dog, at least have the decency to give me some proper clothes!"

"Later," Mako told her. "First, we will find the others."

Korra clenched her jaw against the urge to just scream out an obscenity or two.

There was a sharp rap on the door and Ghazan's voice drifted through the wood. "Hey, are you guys up? We going yet?"

"We're going," Mako said, strapping his kali sticks to his waist.

* * *

No matter how many times Korra used her bending to walk on water, there was always a feeling of surrealism about it. She watched fish dart beneath her feet as they crossed the sea with a small smile on her face.

At least the collar hadn't completely deprived her of her bending, or she had a feeling this sea-crossing, apparently necessary to find the 'next one', would have been very difficult. She was however, forced to travel by boat to their next destination despite begging Mako to allow her to trail behind the boat.

"So, why are you gathering a team?" Ghazan asked.

Mako glanced at him. "I have a goal. And there's a better chance of achieving that goal as a small team."

He glanced back at Korra, hanging over the side of the boat, her fingers skimming the edges of the water, looking as though she was ready to take any chance she could to escape. He regretted that she was going to be put at risk, but as he couldn't remove her collar, he couldn't risk going close to Republic City, and he couldn't just let her wander into the wilderness with so little of her usual strength. She was safer with him.

Listening to Ghazan and Mako talk about forming a team and friendships, Korra felt something burn in her stomach. She couldn't help but wonder why he didn't stay in Republic City; she, Bolin and Asami would have been glad to help him. Or were they not good enough?

Her chest squeezed painfully, and Korra ruthlessly pushed the thought away. She was not going to go through another round of heartbreak over Mako.

Still, that didn't mean she didn't yearn to hit him really hard about the head.

"Why so quiet, Princess?" Ghazan's voice interrupted her inner turmoil.

Korra's reply was honest. "If I'm silent, maybe you two will forget about me and I can sneak away."

"Forget about you?" Ghazan purred. "Don't think so..."

A muscle on the side of Mako's jaw flexed, and Ghazan decided to drop his flirtatious tone.

"But why Ming Hua?" Ghazan asked, changing the subject swiftly. "She's totally deranged and she hasn't exactly got the most charming attitude. Not to mention she's the reason I was locked up in a wooden crate underground. If we have to have a female along, Princess will get my vote any day."

"She's the reason you were locked up?" Korra asked softly, feeling a small kernel of sympathy lodge in her heart for him.

Ghazan glanced back at her, and there was an odd smile hovering on his mouth. She had the feeling it was meant to be cheeky, but it seemed to be more sad, than anything.

"You're a real soft touch, aren't you?"

Mako could practically feel Korra's heart going out to the man beside him, and shattered their moment of bonding when he cut in brusquely, "It's true there are a lot of other strong benders that could be handled more easily, but I need her unique abilities."

Korra set her jaw and clenched her fists against the sudden surge of irrational jealousy. Who cared if Mako needed this woman? She was his prisoner – what should she care who he traveled with and why?

But it still stung. He needed this woman for, whatever reason, and he'd never needed her. She had no idea why he'd dragged her along, but she was certain it wasn't because he needed her around.


	9. Chapter 9

Cadence Chapter Nine: Alliance

* * *

They reached a small, rocky island, and for a moment Korra was certain the base must have been disguised, as all she could see were mountainous cliff faces, upon closer inspection she noticed the opening in the rock, and the staircase that wound down into darkness.

"Great, more underground fortresses," she grumbled.

"Don't worry, Princess, you can hold my hand if you get scared," Ghazan grinned.

Korra made a rude gesture in his direction, but he just laughed. He seemed to laugh at everything she did, as though she had been brought along specifically for the purpose of entertaining him.

Mako made a noise that sounded like a snort and strode down the stairs, Ghazan following.

Korra blinked, dumbfounded and more than a little hopeful at the idea that they'd completely overlooked her. She glanced around, then turned and strode towards the water, intending to make a break for it.

But then Mako was in front of her, having moved too fast for her eyes to follow.

"Quit doing that!" Korra shrieked.

Mako simply took her by the upper arm and pulled her back towards the opening and down the stairs.

"Okay, okay, I get it; no escaping! You can let go of me now."

"Apparently not, since I cannot trust you to follow me on your own," Mako said tightly, as though the words pained him somehow.

"What's your problem?" Korra spat, frustration rumbling through her gut like thunder. "No, don't answer that, I don't care; _just let me go!"_

"You've got your hands full with her," Ghazan snickered as the fire bender dragged the young Avatar past him, with her protesting all the way.

There were cells in this base; long ones that lined the corridor, reinforced with thick steel bars. Korra went still in Mako's grip, forgetting to fight the hold on her arm as she stared at the people contained within.

"Are they okay?" she exclaimed, twisting against Mako's fingers so she could keep the people in sight as long as possible. She could hear them talking to each other, saying that the rumours must be true; Mako had defeated Amon, and was here to free them!

Korra was about to demand that they help those people when Mako came to a halt, releasing her.

They'd stopped in front of one of the many cells within the base; this one however was built from pure platinum and was sectioned off from the remainder of the cells. Whoever was being held within the cell meant business.

"Mako..." she came a voice from behind the bars, a lanky woman standing behind them, her eyes scanning the group. It might have been Korra's imagination, but she thought she detected a flicker of resentment in the woman's eyes when they rested on her. "There must be something exciting going on. No one interesting has visited me all year. I suppose though, if you're here alone, the rumours must be true."

"That's cold," Ghazan huffed. "What about me and Princess here; what are we, chopped liver?"

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked, as though he hadn't spoken.

But Ghazan wasn't deterred. "Mako wants to speak with you. But hey, let's bust you out of there instead of standing around, so you can take us to a room or something? It's been a while since I've stretched my legs and I'm beat."

The woman; who Korra assumed was Ming Hua, snorted from behind the bars. "You'd best get started on melting this cell open then."

It took Mako mere minutes to melt away the lock to the cell. Ming Hua emerged, smirking. She eyed Mako and marched down the corridor, gathering water from a nearby sink to create prosthetic arms, all the while pointedly ignoring both Ghazan and Korra. Korra stared at the woman in bewilderment; she'd never seen someone bend the elements with will power alone.

Ming Hua opened a small door that stood at the end and they strode in, both males sitting down on a small couch in one corner of the room. Korra moved to sit beside Ghazan, but Mako seized her wrist and yanked, sending her careening down beside him.

"Hey!" she yelped indignantly. "Watch the arm; I swear you'll dislocate it if you keep up this pulling and grabbing."

"And who is she?" Ming Hua drawled, pointing at the young Avatar.

Ghazan smirked. "She's Mako's sweetheart."

Ming Hua smirked, and the shark-man laughed and amended, "Well, she's more like his slave. See the collar Princess is wearing?"

Ming Hua glanced at Korra again, and nodded slowly, apparently realising that Korra was a slave. "She doesn't look particularly strong, no good for manual labour...so she's a whore?"

Korra opened her mouth to shriek a denial, but Mako beat her to it.

"No," he said bluntly, his voice hard. "Korra is not a whore."

Korra blinked, rather taken aback at the cold fury in Mako's eyes. Ming Hua seemed similarly shocked.

But Ghazan didn't seem surprised. "Bit touchy, aren't you?"

Mako ignored him. "Ming Hua, you're coming with us; I need you."

At that blunt statement, Korra felt a tightness in her throat, she was so tired of hurting over him.

"Why should I go with you?" Ming Hua asked nonchalantly. "Why do I need to go anywhere? I've just been released from this hell hole."

"Amon's gone," Mako countered.

"What're you going to do with all the captives?" the woman retorted.

"Ghazan, go and release the prisoners," Mako instructed.

Korra sighed. Typical, really. _'Overbearing, self-righteous jackass!'_

Of course, if it got those poor people out, she couldn't really complain.

"Whatever havoc they cause is on you" Ming Hua hissed as the Ghazan rose from his seat.

"There is no more reason to keep them around," Mako pointed out. "What would you have me do with them?"

Remembering the ragged, thin people she had seen in the cell, Korra stood as well. "I'll help."

"What did I say?" Ghazan smirked. "Real soft touch."

"It's not a bad thing," Korra groused as she trotted out the door behind him. Mako had made no move to stop her, so she took that as unspoken permission.

"I have no obligation to go with you." Ming Hua lulled as the door closed behind them.

Mako gazed at her, assessing how serious she was. One part of his mind was tracking Korra's energy signature, monitoring her to ensure he'd be aware of any escape attempt.

Mako was well aware of Ming Hua's infatuation with him; he'd had plenty of experience of that when playing probending in Republic City, and if there was one thing he knew about infatuation, it was that if he affected disinterest, they simply tried all the harder to gain his attention.

So he simply sighed, and said, "Fine. If you feel that strongly about it, I'll just have to find someone else."

Barely slower than a blink, Ming Hua had rushed to the door and locked it.

"I'll come," she cooed, as she slowly approached him, sitting down next to him and deliberately sidling close to him. "If you really want me to...I'll go with you. I've nothing better to do anyway..."

"Don't get so close," Mako said, feeling himself begin to tense. He didn't like it when people moved into his personal space. He had never really minded when Korra did it...but that was different.

_"Ghazan!"_ came Korra's shout from behind the door, making Mako stiffen, wondering if he'd have to reinforce his threat of mutilation. "What are you-!"

But then the door was cleaved into pieces, fragments of wood and stone skittering across the floor. Ming Hua leapt away from Mako like he'd suddenly caught fire.

Ghazan stood in the doorway, leaning on his sword as one of his arms bulged with muscles. Korra was behind him, her arms flung up over her head to protect herself from the rain of debris.

"You idiot!" she snarled, her clenched hand slamming into his back. "What if you'd brought the whole ceiling down on us?"

"Watch those fists, Princess," the onyx-haired man whined, rubbing at his side as his muscled arm went to hang by his side. "I need some of those ribs you're cracking."

"You'll live," Korra retorted.

But Ghazan noticed her eyes flicker over him briefly, assessing his condition. Korra might put on a front of sharp-tongued insults and sarcasm, but at heart she was probably the most compassionate person he'd ever met.

So he grinned at her, letting her know he'd only been joking, then addressed Mako again. "Well, let's get going, then; Ming Hua clearly doesn't want to come."

"Actually, she's changed her mind," Mako informed them.

"I-I never said that!" the woman protested. "I'm...I'm just heading in the same direction."

_'Sure you are..._' Korra thought, hating herself for the touch of resentment that snaked into that thought. But she was confident there was a reason she and Ghazan had found that door locked, forcing him to knock it down.

Ghazan seemed to be of the same opinion, because there was an edge to his voice when he replied, "Really? Well, that's convenient, then. Guess you'll be with us for a little while, huh?"

"Just a little while," Ming Hua smirked.

"Hear that, Princess? You're gonna have a gal-pal." Ghazan reached out to pat her on the shoulder, but pulled his hand back when Mako glared fiercely at him. "Take it easy. I'm not touching her."

"Oooooh Mako's the touchy type huh?" Ming Hua chuckled slightly.

"He's the jealous type," Ghazan replied. "Doesn't want anyone else messing with his woman."

"I am not 'his woman'!" Korra insisted.

Mako couldn't help the small smirk that flickered across his face at Korra's defiance.

Of course, Korra wasn't paying attention to him. She was thinking of the people she and Ghazan had released, carrying their messages to the outside world. Ghazan had told them to say that Mako truly had defeated Amon, and Korra...

She'd told them that, if they made it back to Republic City, to say that Avatar Korra was unharmed, and that she would be doing her best to get back to her duties soon.

Ghazan had laughed at that. "Don't count on it, Princess," he'd told her. "I don't know what you are to Mako, but I don't think he's letting you go anytime soon."

* * *

So, we're heading to Zaheer now, right?" Ghazan said as they made their way to the surface once more. "Does this mean more walking?"

"Zaheer?" Ming Hua piped. "You're going to include that guy in the team?"

She shot a glance at Mako, but he wasn't paying attention to her. It irritated her to realise his eyes were on the chocolate haired woman, who was currently gazing out to sea.

Korra, for her part, was weighing the possibility of escape if she simply made a run for it. _'Not a chance,'_ she decided. _'Mako would be on me before I so much as set foot off the island.'_

"You know if we go to the Northern HQ, we'll be dead the second we walk in," Ming Hua stated bluntly.

"I only know about it from maps," Ghazan admitted. "Is it really that dangerous?"

"That place is the highest security prison in all of the United Republic. Ming Hua answered. "It's nothing but a nest of monstrosities."

"Monstrosities that you and your kind created," Korra said quietly.

For a moment, there was silence. Ming Hua looked as though she couldn't believe Korra's audacity.

"Amon was paving a path to power you've never even dreamed of!"

Korra sneered. "I'm sure. And if 'power' means taking away thousands of people's bending, then I don't want anything to do with it!"

Ghazan's eyes darted to Ming Hua, waiting for the retaliation, feeling as though he were watching a fencing duel.

"What's the matter?" Ming Hua cooed mockingly. "Don't have the stomach for it?"

Korra's eyes flashed, but her voice was soft and controlled, hard as diamonds, "I'm the Avatar; it's my duty to restore and maintain balance. I will only undertake such drastic measures if it is for the good of the people. As not only the Avatar but as a human being I do everything in my power, my ability and my judgment to never do harm to anyone."

Ming Hua blinked, apparently lost, and Ghazan chuckled, seeming to derive malicious amusement from her confusion.

"Though I suppose someone like yourself wouldn't know of what it is the Avatar stands for," Korra mused, naked contempt in her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Ming Hua's face twisted in fury, but a warning glance from Mako quelled her immediate outburst, making her tone low and tempered when she spoke.

"Why are you here anyway?" she asked. "You can't do a thing with that collar on. Though, I suppose you can spread your legs-"

"Ming Hua!" Mako's voice cracked through the air like a whip.

Korra spoke as if the insult had never been thrown. "If I knew why I was here, I'd tell you, but as it so happens-" she tilted her thumb at Mako, "-you'll have to ask him."

Ming Hua glanced at the fire bender, but one look at his closed face told her he wouldn't say anything on the subject.

"Well, I guess there's no helping it," Ghazan grumbled, stepping out onto the water with a lot of groaning and muttering. "Let's get going."

"Stay close, Korra," Mako ordered.

She sighed in exasperation, but shadowed him nevertheless. If she didn't, he'd probably just yank her around by her arm again.

* * *

It was in a canyon that Ghazan next demanded a rest.

"You're pathetic!" Ming Hua snarled. "There's still a long way to go to the Northern hideout."

"I thought you were headed somewhere else?" Ghazan shrugged, taking a long drink from his water bottle. "So why don't you just leave?"

"What should it matter where I go?" Ming Hua deadpanned.

Silence reigned for a few moments. Korra sprawled out on the warm rock, allowing herself a small smile at the feel of the sun slowly heating her skin.

"Ghazan...why are you traveling with Mako?" Ming Hua asked eventually.

"I could ask you the same question," the onyx-haired man shrugged. "But I have plans of my own, and I need Mako's help."

"While we're addressing goals and reasons," Korra piped up, turning to Mako. "Why the in the flameo did you bring me along?"

Mako snorted. "You should know why."

Fury pulsed at the edges of Korra's vision and her jaw clenched so tightly it was a wonder her teeth didn't crack. He abducted her, dragged her across the countryside while he gathered a team that was supposed to help him take down Zolt while completely ignoring the fact that his friends in Republic City were perfectly willing to help him and he was suggesting that she was the idiot because she didn't know why?

Her frustration boiled like an overheated pot, demanding release, screaming for an outlet.

So Korra bent a rock at him.

It was certainly childish, and almost definitely futile, but she noted that she felt better, calmer, almost as soon as the rock was released from her hands.

It didn't hit him, of course. Mako flashed across the distance between them before the rock was even halfway across, letting it thump harmlessly onto the bare ground as he seized her wrists, twisting them up behind her back and forcing her against his body, effectively pinning her while standing upright.

_'This seems to be becoming a habit for us,'_ she mused. _'Physical contact under extreme anger. Though it's probably my fault; I _should_ learn to curb my impulses better.'_

But damn if Mako couldn't make her mad enough to rip the skin from his body piece by piece.

"You will not do that again," the fire bender said sternly.

Ming Hua was smirking, apparently unable to believe her eyes. "Serves you right."

Ghazan shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "I'll say this for you, Princess; you've got energy!"

Mako and Korra ignored them, their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills.

"I will release you," Mako said, carefully enunciating each syllable as though ensuring there was no possible way she could misunderstand. "And you will not attempt to attack me again."

Korra's lip curled. "Yeah, right," she scoffed.

Mako's eyes narrowed, but Korra paid no heed to the warning signs and forged blindly ahead.

"You know what your problem is, Mako? You're as self-centered as Amon was. You can't conceive of any way but yours being the right one, and you never notice anyone else's needs and wants because you never look past your own nose. So here's a newsflash, jerk; the world doesn't revolve around you!"

Ghazan winced, wishing Korra could have held her tongue. He'd seen Mako singe people's bodies for speaking to him like that, and he hoped that whatever Mako did to her to curb her attitude didn't hurt her too badly. He was becoming rather fond of her.

True to Ghazan's prediction, Mako's expression darkened and he jerked on the wrists he held captive, forcing her closer to him. He could see Mako's grip on her tighten until his knuckles bleached and then abruptly, the fire bender relaxed his hold, allowing Korra to scramble away from him.

Ghazan was left staring. He'd seen men and women bleed for less grave offenses than that but Korra had gotten away with it with little more than a glare. And though Mako had never been the touchy-feely type, he seemed to take every opportunity he had to initiate physical contact with Korra.

Ghazan still had no idea what she was to Mako but whatever she was, she was clearly important.

* * *

"What do you really know about Zaheer when you say you want him in the team?" Ming Hua asked eventually when they started walking once more.

Korra had positioned herself well away from Mako, still stinging from his flippant remark about what was essentially his abduction of her. But she listened to their conversation; eager to pick up anything that might aid her in her escape.

"I know a little," Ghazan admitted. "I fought him once. He was pretty strong, and he had some interesting powers...but I didn't like him. I could never tell what he was thinking. I heard that he's being held up in the Northern base voluntarily, which says a lot about how crazy he is."

Ming Hua rolled her eyes. "Yes, but do you know _why_ he came to Amon?"

Ghazan shrugged. "Maybe because he's just a bit thick in the head."

"No; he wanted to be rehabilitated."

Korra blinked in surprise. This Zaheer person had gone to Amon to be cured of something?

"Rehabilitated?" Ghazan echoed.

Ming Hua nodded. "He wanted to suppress his killing impulses. Usually, those urges are practically nonexistent within him, but eventually, he snaps, forgets who he is, and turns into a murderous, raging demon."

Korra had never met this Zaheer, but she was feeling sorry for him already.

"This was very appealing to Amon," the redhead continued. "Zaheer possesses skills not seen in benders for thousands of years."

She allowed them to digest that for a moment. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Korra thought she did, and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Mako glance towards her. "The ability to fly."

Ming Hua's head snapped towards her, looking irritated at the idea that the other woman had worked it out. "Yes," she said shortly. "Zaheer possesses the ability to fly; such is the origin of Air bending."

"So he's an air bender, huh?" Korra mused, making note of that. "Did anyone try healing with water bending or chemical therapy?"

Ming Hua turned her face away from the Avatar, deliberately ignoring her. But Korra reflected that seemed to be the woman's usual attitude to her. Ming Hua seemed to understand that Mako wouldn't tolerate any outright hostility towards her, so she instead appeared content in pretending Korra didn't exist for the most part, save to toss out an occasional scathing comment when an opening arose.

And frankly, Korra couldn't bring herself to care about it. Ming Hua wasn't the first person that disliked her for no apparent reason, and she certainly wouldn't be the last. She'd learned it was better to just accept it and move on rather than waste energy worrying about it or antagonising them.

Besides, the less she thought about Ming Hua, the less opportunity she had to dwell on the fact that Mako had said he needed her.

"What do you mean by 'chemical therapy?" Ghazan asked.

"Chemicals regulate practically every function of the body," Korra explained. "There are chemicals that can give you incredible rage and strength, chemicals that produce adrenaline, for example, and there are also chemicals that can calm you down. If Zaheer's ability to fly is indeed enzymatic in nature, and not based on a spiritual connection to the element, it can probably be countered with another chemical."

Ming Hua huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh, right," Korra nodded, a cynical smirk on her face. "I get it. Zaheer was a source of power; why cure him?"

She shook her head, feeling moved by pity for this man she had never met. If he had come to Republic City, they would have truly tried to help him, instead of exploiting him.

But then, that seemed typical of the Equalist faction. They understood violence and power but compassion and self-sacrifice were beyond them. Amon knew how to train people to kill, but he could never truly understand why people were willing to die.

And the more she saw of this world, the more frightened Korra became that Mako was too far down this dark road to ever be saved.

* * *

"Hey, why don't we rest a little?" Ghazan said, sitting back on the ground.

"All you ever do is rest!" Ming Hua growled. "We're already here!"

Ghazan waved a hand dismissively.

"Is it the sword? The sword's heavy, isn't it? Just drop the damn thing so we can go!"

"It might have more to do with the fact that he's been locked up in a crate for spirits knows how long," Korra muttered.

"Hey!" Mako said, apparently trying to attract their attention.

Korra glanced in his direction and saw a man lying face down on the earth in front of them, his clothes tattered and stained with blood.

And just like that, her healer instincts took over. She bolted towards the fallen figure, the others hard on her heels. As soon as they reached the man, Korra, Ghazan and Mako dropped to their knees beside him. The lava bender made to turn him over, but Korra's hand flashed out and caught his wrist.

"Don't move him yet; his spinal column could be damaged!"

"Oh. Right." Ghazan said as he retracted his hands, but Korra didn't hear him.

She was too busy running her hands gently along the curve of the man's vertebrae, letting her energy seep into his skin, assessing his condition.

"It's okay, there's no damage to the spine," she said at last. "We can turn him over."

They did so, the man stirring as the motion roused him from unconsciousness.

"What happened?" Mako asked as soon as the man's eyes opened.

The man coughed, and Korra rested her hands on his chest, closing her eyes as she dredged up any energy she could and began to heal his many injuries.

"The prisoners..." the man wheezed. "They started rioting..."

She pressed a hand over his mouth. "Stop talking if you want to stay alive."

And then she closed her eyes and threw herself into the healing. But it was difficult. The collar around her throat meant she had to conserve energy as she would water in a desert; she couldn't just repair every wound she sensed on his body, she had to seek out the worst of his injuries, the ones that were life threatening, and heal them first. She poured all the energy she could into him and when she realised that wasn't enough, she poured some more.

She knew what she was doing was dangerous. The collar meant she ran the risk of fainting before the healing was over. And she didn't know this man; he was a part of the Equalists, she owed him nothing...

Or so Korra the teenager said. But Korra the Avatar was determined that no one was going to die while she was capable of helping them.

So she spent every particle of energy she could to heal the shattered body her hands rested on. Her skin felt strangely hot yet cold, her limbs feeling like dead weights as she sapped more and more energy from her body.

At last, Korra sensed she was done; he was still suffering, she hadn't been able to heal everything but he wouldn't die.

She opened her eyes as she began to lilt forward, her arms and legs feeling as incapable of supporting her weight as thin reeds. But an arm around her ribcage, just under her breasts, arrested the fall that would have sent her toppling onto her patient abruptly. A small tug, and Korra collapsed backwards against Mako's chest.

"He'll be unconscious for a while," she mumbled, her lips and tongue feeling strangely thick. "But he'll survive."

Ghazan whistled as he looked the man over. "Wow; you _are_ good. I thought for sure the guy was at death's door and yet even with the collar you managed to fix him up."

Korra smiled weakly.

Mako looked down at Korra, noting the thin sheen of sweat that glistened on her mocha skin, the slow, sluggish movements of her normally radiant turquoise eyes, and realised that Korra was at her limit. His arm tightened around her, holding her more firmly against him. He felt something in his chest swell when she leaned more of her weight against him, resting her head trustingly in the hollow beneath his chin.

Almost without realising he was doing it, he tilted his head until it rested against the top of her own, until the soft strands of her hair were pressed against his cheek.

He could feel her breath against his skin.

But the moment was broken when he detected a high level of energy speeding towards them.

He rose swiftly, grateful that Korra's legs unfolded as he did so as she tried to support some of her own weight. She would have difficulty standing alone, but at least she wouldn't have to be carried.

"Ghazan, take her!" he shouted.

"Oh, I can touch her now, can I?" the onyx-haired man muttered, his arms sliding around Korra's shoulders to support her as Mako carefully handed her over.

"Your skin's hot..." Korra muttered.

"Comes of being a lava bender, Princess."

A dark grey missile slammed into the ground in front of them, the rock cracking beneath the force. Korra blinked, her tired mind realising it was actually a person.

"What the hell is that?" Ghazan asked, echoing her own thoughts.

"Zaheer," Ming Hua told them.

"Hn." Mako drew his kali sticks, knowing his fire bending alone would not be enough to bring Zaheer down.

And the next thing Korra knew, their attacker was crashing to the ground, blood staining his clothes. Sometimes she forgot how insanely fast Mako could be.

Korra tried to push away from Ghazan, automatically trying to move to Zaheer's aid, but Mako was suddenly right in front of her, his arm around her waist to support her shaky legs.

"I avoided the vital points," he said, sounding slightly irritated.

She nodded blearily, too tired to censor the urge to lean into him. And too exhausted to wonder why she instinctively trusted him to take care of her.

She hated the way her body refused to obey her, the way her normally fast mind seemed to have slowed to a crawl but she supposed it could be worse. She could have passed out entirely.

"The North base is up ahead," Mako went on. "Let's go."

"Mako, maybe we should leave her here," Ming Hua suggested. "She's obviously too weak to be much use-"

"No!" he snapped, whirling around to face Ming Hua. "Korra stays with me."

The woman subsided, but Korra could tell from her thinned lips and tight expression that she was less than pleased.

They made their way slowly towards the Northern hideout, and Korra knew their pace was mainly a concession to her. She felt as unsteady on her legs as a newborn deerdog.

She could feel Mako's arm around her getting tighter and tenser, and knew he was probably sensing something of what lay ahead; a sense that the collar denied her. She was proven correct when they rounded one of the rocky pillars surrounding them and found themselves facing what seemed to be an army of monsters.

"The guards are all dead," Ming Hua breathed. "A complete prison break..."

Korra would have felt intimidated if she weren't so exhausted.

"How do we tell which one's Zaheer?" Ghazan pointed out.

"Ming Hua, is Zaheer in there?" Mako asked, his amber eyes sliding to the woman standing beside him.

"Wait a moment," she said, her eyes sliding closed. "No...he's not there."

In spite of herself, Korra was impressed. She'd never heard of anyone capable of picking a single energy signature out of a wild chaotic mass like the one in front of them. Was this why Mako had taken her along; because she could detect people's locations through her connection to people's bending? Was he planning to track Zolt through her?

"So we can go crazy, right?" Ghazan grinned, hefting his enormous sword.

"Just avoid the vital points," Mako instructed, shifting Korra over to Ming Hua. "Ming Hua, watch her."

The woman grudgingly took Korra's half-limp form from him, slinging Korra's arm over her shoulders to anchor her in an upright position.

"Thanks," Korra muttered.

Ming Hua ignored her, still doing her best to pretend Korra didn't exist.

"You really are from Republic City, aren't you?" Ghazan snickered at Mako. "You're too soft."

All Korra could think was that this Mako who insisted on not killing prisoners seemed rather at odds with the Mako who had tried to kill both her and Bolin.

_'Well, you know what they say about protesting too much...'_ came a soft, hopeful voice in the back of her mind.

* * *

And there we have it; Chapter Nine. I've had a few messages in regards to why Mako defected and became an Equalist and my answer to this is; sit tight and wait. I'm getting to it. Indeed the suspense may be a bit much but it'll be so much more worth it when you do find out.

I've also had reviews asking to make Mako and Korra a couple; I just want to clarify that this fic isn't about them being all lovey dovey with one another. This fic is about the two of them resolving their issues not only with each other but with themselves. I'm not going to lie and say that Mako and Korra have no feelings towards one another, because they do but whether they end up together as a couple is still undecided.

Anyway; review as always!


	10. Chapter 10

Cadence Chapter Ten: Benevolence

* * *

The battle took a lot less time than Korra would have expected. It seemed barely five minutes had passed before Mako and Ghazan were standing among a mass of fallen foes, both smirking as they sheathed their blades.

"I'll look for the key!" Ming Hua announced, shoving Korra towards the males as she made for the open entrance.

Mako caught Korra as she fell against him, and he couldn't help smirking at her muttering of, "I'm not a damn power disc, quit tossing me around like one!"

"I found them!" came Ming Hua's yell from within the base a few moments later. She came out brandishing a small ring of brass keys, which Korra assumed she'd taken from a guard's body.

They entered the hideout, and Korra's first thought was of a hospital. The stone was cleanly, precisely cut, not the usual rough-hewn walls of the other bases she'd been in. And this one had electric lights positioned at even, frequent intervals along the ceiling.

They came to crossroads, and here Mako stopped. "Ming Hua, you have to lead the way."

"Who's taking order from who here, Mako?" she quipped.

"Get used to it. Mako's a jerk with a stick so far up his ass he can probably taste it in his throat," Korra muttered.

Ghazan roared with laughter. "Well, she's certainly got you down to a T, hasn't she, Mako?"

Because she was resting against Mako's chest, Korra couldn't see his expression, but she was willing to bet he was scowling.

"You really going to let her say things like that about you?" Ming Hua droned.

Korra grimaced, not having the energy for an argument.

"Leave her alone," Mako ordered, a touch of true irritation in his voice. "Which way?"

"That way," Ming Hua said, pointing to the right corridor.

Ghazan turned first, but when Mako went to do the same Ming Hua's arm shot out, blocking his path.

"This way," she whispered, nudging him in the direction of the forward corridor. "You can just leave the girl here – she'll be fine..."

Korra's brain felt like a limp dishrag, but she knew what Ming Hua was trying to do. She suspected, well, she _knew_, judging by those shifty eyed looks, that Ming Hua had it in for Mako– she was trying to get him alone.

So Korra raised her voice, just enough to get the attention of the white-haired man who was walking in the wrong direction. "Ghazan!"

He turned, saw Ming Hua trying to nudge Mako, and Korra in his arms, in a different direction, and gave a very unpleasant grin as he retraced his steps. "I suppose I should have expected something like this from someone like you."

Korra paid their argument no attention– she was gingerly testing the strength of her legs as she slowly moved away from Mako. She was grateful that they seemed ready to support her on their own now, even though she doubted she'd be able to move particularly fast.

She realised that Mako was watching her carefully. She looked up, ready to screech that she wasn't in any condition to escape but the words died in her throat at the expression on his face. He wasn't watching her like a guard watching a prisoner, he was watching her as though he needed to make sure she was steady on her legs, as though he needed reassurance that she was recovering.

"Well, are we going, or what?" Ghazan asked, forging on ahead. And then, noticing Korra was standing on her own again he asked, "You feeling better, Princess?"

"A little," Korra admitted, starting off down the corridor.

When Mako slid into step beside her, hovering like a large, scary mother hen, Korra told herself it was only because he didn't want her slowing him down.

* * *

"So _this_ is Zaheer's cell, huh?" Ghazan said, staring at the door in front of him. "A bit of overkill, don't you think?"

The door was reinforced platinum, with four separate locks and two chains draped across it to hold it closed.

"Someone didn't want him getting out anytime soon," Korra murmured as Ming Hua used her stolen keys to open the locks one by one as Mako removed the chains.

"I'll go in first," Mako told them. "Korra, stay behind Ghazan."

Korra rolled her eyes, but did as he asked. As much as she hated to admit it, sheer force of will was pretty much all that was keeping her on her feet at the moment, and at times discretion really _was_ the better part of valour.

Mako cracked the door open.

"_You're dead!_" came a scream from inside.

And then a large bald man flew from the cell, laughing manically as he slammed into Mako and sent him ploughing into the wall behind them. Korra had just enough time to note that there was a ball and chain attached to the strange man's leg, as well as attached to his wrists, before Ghazan yanked her to his chest and twisted so his body was between her and Ghazan, sheltering her from the rain of debris from the shattered wall. Ming Hua fell backwards beside them, the force of Zaheer's charge pushing her aside like a paper cup.

"_Mako!_" the Avatar screamed.

Korra's heart was in her throat until the dust cleared and she saw that there was something pierced through Zaheer – it looked like an electrified pole.

The Mako shoved Zaheer backwards, and Korra realised Mako's blade was struck through Zaheer's shoulder. The blade had lightning running through it.

'This must be the lighting blade that Bolin told me about,' she thought dimly, feeling slightly repulsed at the smell of burning flesh.

"I don't want to fight," Mako said. "I want to talk with you."

"I don't think he's in much of a mood for talking, certainly not now you've pierced him with a blade that has electricity coursing through it," Korra commented.

A broad, shark-like grin broke out on Ghazan's face as he stepped away from Korra. "Hey, Mako, can I fight him?"

"No, Ghazan," Mako said. "We didn't come here to fight."

"So you're Ghazan!" Zaheer roared. "I remember you!"

And he lunged. Ghazan raised his sword and swung, the blade clashing with Zaheer's right arm.

Korra was still feeling rather sluggish, but she could see that the sword would make a complete rotation unless it was arrested somehow. And since she was standing behind Ghazan, that complete rotation would cut her in half at the waist.

And then logical thought was wiped from her brain as every synapse screamed that there was a very big, very sharp sword coming towards her and she needed to get the hell out of the way _now_!

Korra dropped flat on her back, breathing hard as she waited for the sword to pass over her. But the blade never came.

Deciding to risk raising her head a little, she was astounded to find that two enormous flames had warped themselves around Ghazan and Zaheer, immobilising both men where they stood. She blinked when she realised that several coils of flames were looped around Ghazan's sword, halting it in the air about a metre away from where she had been standing.

Mako's amber eyes were alight with anger, his voice was cold and savage, deliberate malicious intent saturating the air. "Do you want me to kill you?"

Not waiting for a reply, he bent down to Korra, helping her to her feet. "Are you hurt?"

His voice was still cold, but Korra was surprised to realise he looked genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine," she assured him, rather astounded at how fast his fire bending technique had been performed. He would have had only a few moments to react.

The flames receded, and Korra kicked Ghazan in the shin to cover her unease at the killing intent still radiating off Mako. "You could have killed me!"

Ghazan looked a little sheepish, but she noticed him watching Mako warily. "Sorry about that, Princess."

Ming Hua was also staring at the fire bender, but she was smirking, an impressed, glazed look in her eye.

Not that Korra could really blame her. Aggressive Mako, while deeply irritating and infuriating, was also very attractive. And the whole tight pants situation...

_'No, no, no!'_ She gave herself a mental slap. _'Traitor, jerk, holding you against your will, remember? You are over him, you do not feel anything for him – he means nothing!'_

And yet, each repetition of those sentiments only made them less convincing.

Zaheer blinked, as Mako's lightning blade was retracted from his shoulder. He stared around him, looking confused and disoriented as though he had just woken up. A sort of terrified realisation settled over his face, and he bolted back into his cell with a scream, slamming the door behind him.

"Lock the door!" he screamed at them. "Lock the door!"

Korra blinked, bewildered by the abrupt turn-around.

"I came here to free you," Mako called through the door. "Come with me."

"_I don't want to kill any more people!"_ came the anguished reply. _"Don't make me go outside…just leave me alone!"_

"It's like he has a split personality," Korra breathed, blinking away the sudden sting of tears.

Zaheer couldn't control himself but he hated the idea of killing so much that he would hide himself away from the outside world.

"Amon is dead," Mako said bluntly. "This base will crumble. If you stay here, you'll die."

"_I don't care_!"

And that was when Korra made up her mind. She didn't want to help Mako walk down a path that would take him farther from Republic City, but she couldn't turn her back on someone who was so clearly suffering.

She strode past the others and unceremoniously yanked the cell door open.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ghazan yelped.

Ming Hua ogled her. "Are you crazy?"

Mako's hand shot out, grabbing at her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and stepped quickly out of his reach.

As she entered the cell, Zaheer scrambled backwards, pressing himself against the far wall. "Get away from me!"

Korra ignored his outburst and stuck out her hand as though they were being introduced at a cocktail party. "Hi, I know you're Zaheer, and I'm Avatar Korra, pleased to meet you."

The bald man stared up at her, completely nonplussed. Korra could hear Ghazan spluttering incoherently behind her, and a comment from Ming Hua reached her ears.

"She's gone completely loopy!"

After waiting for several breaths, Korra reached down and seized Zaheer's wrist, guiding his hand to hers and shaking it firmly.

Zaheer was staring at her as though he'd never seen another human being before. But Korra could understand his surprise – she had a feeling she was probably the first person in a long time not to treat him like either a valuable commodity or a dangerous lunatic.

She sat beside him, smiling as though they were old friends. "You're a good person, aren't you?"

Zaheer blinked at her, and there was nothing but silence from the others. Korra supposed her statement had been a bit of an odd one.

"I mean, you're so desperate not to hurt anyone that you're prepared to spend the rest of your life locked up like some kind of criminal," she clarified.

"This is how it has to be," he insisted. "You should just go, before I try to hurt you."

"Meaner and scarier guys than you have tried."

"Go!" he yelled, one hand swinging towards her as though to push her away.

Korra ignored it. "And you'll remain in isolation because you're terrified of anyone getting close enough to be hurt. You know, you kind of remind me of one of my friends."

Korra couldn't help but feel slightly concerned that she was so desperate for the company of her friend and teammate that she was beginning to see aspects of her friends everywhere, but forged on ahead anyway. "If you come with us, I'm sure that you could become my friend too."

"My friend?" Zaheer said dully.

"Yeah. He may be a cold-hearted jerk, but if Mako wants to set you free, why not take a chance?"

"Mako?" Zaheer repeated, looking startled. "He is Mako?"

Korra nodded, realising this obviously meant something to Zaheer.

"P'Li died for you," the man said, his eyes fixed on the dark-haired man who stood at the entrance to his cell.

Korra vaguely heard Ming Hua explaining that P'Li had been Zaheer's lover – capable of stopping the big man's rages – but her attention was riveted on Zaheer's expression. It was a strange mixture of longing, remembrance and a sort of tentative hope.

Something told her that he was teetering on the cusp of a decision – all he needed was the slightest nudge to push him into making it.

So Korra climbed to her feet, once more trying to ignore the momentary lightheadedness that shook her, and extended her hand down to him like a child offering to help a playmate up after a fall. When he only stared at her outstretched limb, she wiggled her fingers enticingly, trying to coax him into grasping them.

In spite of her sunny smile, she hadn't really been sure what he would do, so it came as a surprise when Zaheer slowly slid his hand into hers, and she tugged lightly on his arm as he gained his feet.

In that moment, she knew Zaheer would accompany Mako. And some part of her was glad – while Ghazan was nice to talk to, she couldn't forget how bloodthirsty he obviously was.

But it seemed that Zaheer was anything _but_ violent, under normal circumstances.

His hand in hers was timid and tentative, as though he couldn't quite believe this was really happening, and Korra wondered how long it had been since he'd had simple human contact.

"So," she began, unable to resist grinning at the others, all of whom seemed to wearing expressions that were various degrees of stunned. Ming Hua's was the most extreme, while Mako's was barely a raised eyebrow. "Can we go back to the surface now? I want some light and air; I'm sick of all these underground tunnels."

* * *

Mako did his best to ignore the way Ming Hua was practically breathing down his neck on the way back to the surface. He was more concerned with Korra, who was still looking a little unsteady on her feet, sandwiched between Ghazan and Zaheer, chatting happily with both men.

He realised she'd stopped really talking to him since they'd departed the main base, more specifically since he'd forced her to go with him. But couldn't she see why he was doing it?

'_Apparently not, or surely she wouldn't be so furious with me.'_

He considered telling her point blank why he was bringing her but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Korra, for her part, had asked Ghazan why he'd stepped in front of her when Zaheer had charged out of his cell and slammed Mako into the wall. He hadn't really struck her as the compassionate type.

"I'd hate to see that pretty little face get stomped on," he smirked. "And I'm not real eager to find out what Mako would do if I allowed someone or something to hurt you."

"I don't think he'd be _that_ bothered about me," she protested.

Ghazan chortled. "Keep telling yourself that, Princess."

* * *

Korra sighed, kicking a rock idly as she trotted along behind Mako, thinking of what she'd just heard.

He'd explained to the others that he had formed the team with the goal of killing Zolt, like Korra hadn't seen that one coming a mile away, while the others seemed to agree to travel with him for various motives. Apparently, Ghazan was after certain swords; some people collected stamps, some people collected bugs and Ghazan, well, he collected swords.

Ming Hua had muttered something about being along for the ride, but Korra suspected it was her infatuation with Mako that was keeping her with them, while Zaheer had said he wanted to determine if Mako was truly worthy of P'Li's sacrifice.

Korra had found that reason to be kind of sweet, if not morbidly bizarre.

Mako had christened the new group and announced that they would be seeking out Zolt. Korra had no idea how they were going to go about this, but supposed Mako had to have a plan of some sort.

"A four man team is more efficient," she heard Ming Hua mutter to Mako. "Why are you bringing _her_ along? Unless she really is a whor-"

"Enough, Ming Hua," Mako said sternly.

The water bender subsided, but Korra was still rather irked.

"What is it with her and me being promiscuous?" she asked Ghazan.

He shrugged. "She just doesn't like you."

"I actually got that. What I'm wondering is _why_?"

"She perceives you as a threat to her advances on Ming Hua," Zaheer said quietly.

Korra blinked at him, then laughed. "Let me assure you, as far as Mako's affections go I'm no threat. I never had much of a hold on him in the first place."

"If you say so..." Ghazan muttered, sounding unconvinced.

"By the way, _where are we going?_" Korra pitched her voice to be heard by the two traveling a little ahead of them.

Mako glanced back at her. "Somewhere you can get new clothes."

"Really?" It was almost comical to watch the way she perked up, like a child who had been offered ice cream.

"Really," he confirmed blandly.

He knew where he was going to take them. The Equalist's had a weapons store nearby. They could stock up on supplies and it could also serve as a shelter for the night.

"You are the most conceited, arrogant, blind son of a bitch I've ever met!"

Ghazan snickered. Honestly, Mako and Korra's interactions were like a rollercoaster; up and elated one moment, down and antagonistic the next. While Korra had been practically ecstatic at that thought of soon being able to discard the rough brown clothing she was wearing though eventually the subject of her return to Republic City had come up again.

Mako had, again, refused to let her go. And again, Korra had retaliated by the only means available to her; words.

Ming Hua muttered darkly under her breath beside him, and though Ghazan couldn't quite hear the words, he was confident it was something along the lines of 'she's got it coming'.

"Well, I guess you have to give up on Mako now," he commented, watching Korra shriek curses upon Mako, down to his remotest descendant and the most removed ancestor.

"And why is that?" she practically snarled.

"It's obvious he's got a thing for Princess."

Ming Hua scoffed. "Oh, please, he's just tolerating her."

"Yeah, well, it's obvious he 'tolerates' her a lot more than he tolerates us. If one of us hurled one of those insults he would have brought a world of hurt down on our heads. But he hasn't done anything like that with her. He lets her get away with stuff he'd never put up with from anyone else. I mean, are you going to be tossing out some of the phrases Princess is using at Mako?"

"Hardly, I have a little more class than that!"

"And because you know he'd probably feel the need to impress upon you why it's not a good idea to insult him. I've seen people burn for things less insulting than what Princess says, but I've yet to see him so much as slap her."

Then he turned back to the subjects of their conversation. Their argument seemed to be winding down. Korra was looking weary and downtrodden, while Mako's eyes were flintier than usual.

"You know what?" the Avatar said softly. "When this is over, you'll be all alone, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

"That doesn't bother me." But even as he said it, Mako knew that it did. Solitude had been _necessary_ for these past years but he hadn't exactly welcomed it.

Something about being utterly and entirely alone reminded him too much of an empty house and a bloodstained alley way...

"Don't lie," Korra whispered. "It scares you unlike anything else, doesn't it? That's why you gathered these people; not for their power or their assistance, but so you wouldn't be alone."

And though she didn't say anything because it was nothing more than a sneaking suspicion in her mind, Mako privately wondered why the current group of 'comrades' seemed to remind her of the old Team Avatar in more ways than one.

Mako, for his part, was wondering how Korra had read his motives so effortlessly. Was she performing some kind of mind-reading technique without his knowledge?

But then again, Korra had always seemed to have been able to read him like an he were an open book. After all, she was the one who had been waiting for him the night he'd defected from Republic City. No one else had suspected what he would do. Not even Bolin, who had spoken to him barely hours before, so how had she?

He dismissed that thought, telling himself she had probably just had a bad feeling or something along those lines.

Because the alternative, that she really understood him that deeply, was a little frightening.

* * *

"Korra is still alive."

A stunned silence followed Lin's proclamation, before Bolin whooped, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew she was alive!"

Asami and Tenzin blinked, one too unskilled at showing emotion and the other too used to not showing it.

"Unfortunately, our intelligence says she's with Mako-"

"Really?" Bolin interrupted, positively beaming. "So my brother is coming back?"

Tenzin said nothing, but there was a certain bleakness in his eyes that made Lin think that he knew what she was about to say.

"She said 'unfortunately'," Asami pointed out. "So, wouldn't that mean this isn't good news?"

"Though our intelligence indicates Amon is dead, Mako has shown no inclination to return to Republic City," Lin continued. "He is hunting down the triads in an effort to locate Zolt and Korra is accompanying him against her will."

Bolin's shock was so palpable the Chief of Police could practically feel it echoing through the room.

"So...he's kidnapped her." Tenzin's voice was perfectly flat, perfectly controlled.

"Essentially, yes," Lin sighed. "Reports vary, but it's obvious Korra was captured by the Equalists on her way back here from her mission, and it seems she was given to Mako for very _specific_ purposes. Apparently Amon wanted a child of both Mako and Korra."

Her words fell with all the weight of a dozen anvils.

"Mako raped Korra?" Asami blurted as the blood drained from her face.

"Nothing has been confirmed," Lin said quietly.

What little she could see of Tenzin's face behind his hands was grey, as though he were about to be violently sick.

"_No_…_no way_!" Bolin shouted. "He wouldn't have..."

"You three will be among a group of officers I will dispatch to liberate her," the Chief of Police continued. "It won't be the usual four-man team, mainly because I anticipate a lot of problems with this mission. Your first goal will be to locate Mako, and I recommend you try to do so by first tracking down Zolt. And when you have found him..."

She trailed off, but she could tell they understood. Their priority was to free Korra; everything else, including Bolin's self-proclaimed goal of dragging Mako back to Republic City, had to take a backseat to that.

* * *

Onwards and upwards. Review!


	11. Chapter 11

Cadence Chapter Eleven: Restriction.

* * *

"And what do we have here?" Korra muttered. "_More_ underground bases?"

"You don't like the underground?" Zaheer asked kindly.

Not for the first time, Korra wondered at the fact that such a seemingly in control man would be cursed with such wild, violent rages

"I just don't like anything without windows," Korra admitted. "Anywhere I can't see sunlight or feel the wind...it just makes me uncomfortable."

Zaheer frowned. "Were you imprisoned underground once? Is that why you feel unsettled? You feel trapped?"

Korra shrugged. "Something like that."

Though she would have felt better about the whole thing if she'd had her super strength back and could have punched out a window whenever she so chose. But the collar ensured that wasn't an option.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically.

Korra shook her head at him. "It's hardly your fault."

They were currently traversing the winding corridors of what Mako had told them was a supply cache Amon had created and controlled. It had been hidden in the middle of a ruined city.

"All these tunnels look the same," Ghazan complained.

"Yeah, because the tunnels in Amon's dens were always unique and distinct," Korra grumbled.

"Amon?" came a new, foreign voice from behind them.

Everyone turned.

At first, Korra thought her ears had been playing tricks on her – the corridor behind them was empty. A moment later a pair of wolves revealed themselves to the group. Before them stood what Korra could only guess were a pair of Spirit wolves.

"It's been a long time," Mako remarked casually. "I see you are still doing well, Kuruk, Zei."

"What are you doing here?" the older of the two asked.

Korra herself had to try extremely hard not to let her jaw drop to the floor. The wolf had just spoken. _They spoke._

"I need weapons, medicine," Mako explained, seemingly undeterred by the fact he was now having a conversation with a wolf. "A few supplies...and we need a place to stay for the night."

Ghazan had bent down, seemingly fascinated with the furry animals.

"Here, doggy," Ghazan cooed, holding out his hands as though he were trying to coax a household pet.

Korra rolled her eyes. If there was one thing her interactions with Naga and the Bisons had taught her, it was that most animals were as intelligent as any human being and they certainly didn't appreciate being talked down to.

She was proven correct when the wolves snarled at him.

"They're spirit wolves," Mako said dryly. "Not pets. If they don't like you, they bite."

"We can smell out the bad sorts," the one to the left of the lady said, turning its nose up at Ghazan.

"They so not only can they _talk_, they _discriminate_ too," he muttered darkly.

"They're as intelligent as you or me," Korra said, then scoffed with a teasing grin,

"Well, maybe just me..."

"Oh that hurts, Princess!"

Korra felt something brush against her legs and nearly jumped, looking down to realise that one of the wolves was nosing at her calf, its wet nose tickling her skin.

"Hey," she murmured. While some part of her wanted to rub the creature's ears, the way she would if any other dog had approached her, she held herself back. She knew that you didn't touch spirit animals unless you had permission.

The wolf regarded her with piercing eyes for a moment. Just when Korra was beginning to wonder if she had committed some sort of canine social faux pas, the wolf's lip lifted in what was probably meant to be a smile.

"I like you," the wolf declared, rubbing itself against her legs. "You may pet me if you wish," it announced, she wasn't sure if the wolf was male or female, as though granting a very exclusive favour.

Korra stifled her laugh as she bent to do as suggested. Human-like intelligence or not, wolves were still very much like dogs; it'd probably demand a belly scratch later.

She was dimly aware of Mako bargaining with the elderly lady but instead focused on rubbing the wolf's ears. She'd always been rather fond of animals; there was just something about them...

She became aware of eyes on her and looked up to find that almost everyone in the hallway was staring at her. Ming Hua was pointedly ignoring her, as per usual, Ghazan looked irritated that the wolf had snubbed him, Zaheer was watching her interaction with the animal with something like longing, and Mako…

She couldn't name the expression on his face, all she knew was that it sent a jolt of heat right through her body.

The wolf stepped away from her, and she looked down, breaking the moment.

"Come on," the wolf howled, leading the way with its tail head high. "Let's see the elder wolf."

* * *

Korra had never seen so many wolves in one room before. Though these seemed to be the ordinary wild kind; there were no spirit wolves besides the two who had led them there.

Most of them were congregating around the old, white-haired woman sitting on a mat in the middle of the room. She was apparently the 'elder wolf', and she surveyed the entire group with a critical eye as a younger woman, her granddaughter it seemed, worked to help them find what they needed.

Korra couldn't help but think the situation just kept getting more and more odd by the minute.

The elderly lady's granddaughter was currently rummaging through chests of clothes in an effort to find a shirt that could fit Zaheer. Korra didn't think much of her chances; they'd been lucky to find pants and boots that he could pull on, but she doubted they would stumble upon a shirt big enough as well.

The wolf Korra was scratching bumped its head against her fingers, reminding her she'd been derelict in her duty while absorbed in her thoughts. The Avatar smiled a little and resumed rubbing the base of the canine's ears until it began nuzzling her once more.

Ghazan was crouched on the floor beside her, apparently enjoying the fact that ordinary wolves didn't discriminate in the same way the spirit ones had.

"They're not bad, are they?" he mused, stroking his hand down a lupus's back. "Animals, I mean."

"They're alright," Korra said, sitting back to accommodate the animals that were clamouring for her attention. It was as though they had some sixth sense, telling them that here was a sucker for anything furry and vaguely cuddly.

"You're making friends," Ghazan commented.

Out of the corner of her eye, Korra saw Mako kneel in front of the old woman as he thanked her. She turned around to give the scene her full attention, surprised to see Mako being so humble.

"I assume you're going after Zolt?" the old woman said in a low voice.

Mako said nothing, collecting a small bundle of supplies.

"To think it's come to this..." she went on, shaking her head.

"I made this decision long before joining forces with Amon," Mako said, his tone effectively ending the conversation as he placed several notes of money on the mat in front of the old woman.

"We don't have anything big enough for this guy!" the young woman called out as she tossed away the last of the shirts.

"Check out the back, I'm sure we have something," her grandmother called back.

A while later the girl returned from a storeroom with what looked link old monks clothes. The young woman gave an apologetic smile as she passed the clothes to Zaheer, who simply shook his head, telling her not to worry about it. Zaheer made his way to the storeroom to get changed from his prison uniform.

After a few moments later he returned, the clothes a perfect fit.

"Looks sharp on you," Korra grinned.

The old woman surveyed Korr, a strange light in her eyes as the young Avatar picked up a cub that was pawing at her legs, tucking the cub in her arms like a baby. The cub rubbed its head under her chin and nuzzled her neck vigorously.

"She's a good sort," the woman eventually declared, sitting back contentedly.

Mako wondered why it felt like she had been giving him tacit permission to court Korra.

"Now we need to find some clothes for you," the younger woman said, addressing Korra as the Avatar gently lowered the cub she'd been cuddling down to the howling masses writhing underfoot.

"These might fit you," she said, tossing dark pants and a dark shirt at Korra.

She held them up, noting that the high collar would hug the base of her throat and partially cover the symbol of her servitude. She wondered if that was deliberate.

"These look nice and all," she said slowly. "But there's just one thing..."

She flipped the shirt so its back was to the room, pointing at the small Equalist crest displayed on the back. "I'm not an Equalist."

The woman shrugged. "It's all we have."

Korra examined the garment and huffed a small breath through her nose.

_'Of course it's all they have,' _she groused as she stepped behind a small curtain to change, nearly tripping over the cubs that were clambering at her legs.

She emerged with her brown clothes tossed over her shoulder, feeling significantly better about the world now that she was wearing clothes that didn't itch. The pants were about half an inch too wide at the waist, but since the girl had provided her with a belt, that wasn't really a problem.

Mako could practically feel his heart rate raise a notch when Korra came out, the Equalist crest displayed prominently across her back. He told himself he didn't know why, and that it certainly had nothing to with the fact that to any outside observer, she would now be considered part of the Equalists. As was he.

Korra did her best to ignore the fact that she had the same symbol printed on her clothes as Mako did. She was also doing her best to ignore the underlying connotations that fact brought with it; the feeling that this somehow meant they belonged with each other.

Instead, she watched Zaheer interact with the cubs. He was eager but at the same time, hesitant, as though desperate to connect with something but afraid to hurt them at the same time.

Taking pity on him, Korra tore a long strip of material from her shift and handed it to him. "Here, take one end of this."

He did so, looking a little bewildered, and she gently gripped his wrist, guiding his hand so the strip of material made a jerking, teasing motion on the ground in front of some of the cubs. One of the cubs grabbed the piece of material in it's mouth and started to pull on it vigorously.

"They like to chase and chew on things," she told him as several of them flattened themselves against the floor, their eyes trained on the strip of material as their spines seemed to coil like springs. "So you can play with them by getting them to chase something. If you keep doing this-"

One of the cubs sprang at the cloth, interrupting her. Korra jerked at Zaheer's wrist, prompting him to snap the cloth out of reach as the other cubs followed.

Zaheer grasped the concept quickly, and in a matter of moments he was trailing the shred of her shift back and forth across the floor, laughing delightedly as the young pups sprang eagerly after it.

Korra wasn't surprised that the canines responded to Zaheer so quickly. In spite of his strange rages, the bald man was rather zen, and animals often seemed to somehow sense these things.

"-can stay here as long as you don't get in the way!" The old woman's voice reached her ears again.

Mako bowed again and Korra watched the younger woman root around, apparently looking for some futons and blankets.

"Does that mean there's a bathroom around here somewhere?" Ming Hua asked.

The old woman pointed down the hallway. "First door on the right. Everything you need is in there; don't make a mess."

Ming Hua looked offended, but seemed to decide the possibility of offending their hosts wasn't worth giving up the prospect of a shower and set off without a word.

"I'm next!" Korra declared.

She could hear the vague sound of water running through pipes, and assumed Ming Hua had started her shower. She listened to it with half an ear as she and Zaheer played with the cubs, and when it shut off she stood and made her way from the room.

She met Ming Hua in the hall, just as the redhead was coming out of the bathroom.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you don't have a chance," Ming Hua said quietly.

Korra blinked. "What?"

"With Mako," she clarified, looking irritated. "You don't have a chance."

"Ugh, more like he doesn't have a chance with _me_," Korra rebuffed. "But it's not like I care much; you're welcome to him."

Sure, she was lying through her teeth with the last part, but she hoped the other woman couldn't tell.

"You're lying," Ming Hua sneered.

Only the half-hope that Ming Hua was just fishing, that she didn't actually know anything, kept Korra's face blank. "I just want a shower."

"Just as long as you understand that you don't have a chance," Ming Hua reiterated. "I don't know why he's taking you along with us, but just remember this: he _needs_ me, he _doesn't_ need you. Unless, of course, you really are screwing him and he's whoring you out to Ghazan and Zaheer to keep them satisfied."

For the second time that day, Korra felt something in her snap; her temper had always been one of her weak spots. If she was being honest, she could admit Ming Hua's words had found their mark in very tender, very raw, still-bleeding emotional wounds. Although, if that had been the only words that the woman had said, she could have probably controlled herself. Korra had long since learned to deal with pain.

But she was just sick and tired of the water bender insinuating that she was sleeping around. And she'd never been good at curbing her temper.

Her foot lashed out, knocking Ming Hua's legs from under her and sending the other woman to the ground. Ming Hua fell forward, her arms or water coming out to catch herself as Korra darted out of the way, leaving her ample room to face-plant on the floor.

The impact knocked the wind out of the redhead, and before she could even try to rise Korra planted a knee in her back to keep her down, one hand twisting in the other woman's wet hair to keep her head still as she pushed two fingers against the vertebrae in her neck.

"I don't appreciate those sorts of insinuations," she said conversationally. "So, the next time you want to mock me, or imply I'm a whore, think of this."

Ming Hua began to struggle, making choked noises of fury, and Korra pressed her fingers harder into her neck. "I have excellent energy control; enough so that I can form energy scalpels while wearing this stupid collar. So stop moving, and shut up!"

Ming Hua froze. If Korra was telling the truth then the fingers digging into her neck had just gone from an annoyance to a genuine, deadly threat.

"And, considering I've trained as a healer, it means I know just where to cut," the Avatar went on. "For example, if I cut here..." she let her slender fingers drift down to Ming Hua's lower back. "Well, let me put it to you this way; you'll have as much control over your bladder as a baby. If I cut you here..." her hand crept higher. "You'll be paralysed from the waist down. Do you think Mako will take you along when you're in a wheelchair?"

Ming Hua shivered, but Korra paid her no mind as her hand drifted along the vertebrae of Ming Hua's neck. The human body never ceased to fascinate her; as a whole, it was often unbelievably strong, capable of enduring incredible trials, but target the individual points and pieces, and it suddenly became extremely vulnerable, the faintest injury causing fatality.

"If I slice here, well, forget the wheelchair, you'll be lucky to be able to turn your head. And here..." Korra jabbed her fingers into the back of Ming Hua's skull, emphasizing her point. "Well, this is the brainstem; it controls your breathing, keeps your heart beating, that sort of thing. I probably don't have to tell you what happens if I decide to carve it up."

"Mako would kill you," Ming Hua hissed.

"Mako isn't _capable_ of killing me. And either way, you'd still be dead."

Korra held her position a moment and then eased off. "And that's only a fraction of what I know. I could name hundreds of points on your body that I could use to cripple you, kill you, or cause you unbearable pain. So the next time you feel the urge to call me a whore, think of that."

Korra walked into the bathroom and shut the door before Ming Hua could make any retort. While she didn't really regret strong-arming the woman, she had become sick and tired of her comments; she was beginning to feel like a bit of a bully.

On some level, it was rather disconcerting. Her temper had always been a weak spot for her, but lately it felt like it was on a hair-trigger, that she was ready to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation.

She'd chosen to focus on fury rather than despair, but no choice came without consequences.

Still, a nice, hot shower would make her feel better. Especially if she could sing in it.

* * *

"Princess is a lot of things, but 'good singer' ain't one of them," Ghazan muttered, his hands clamped over his ears.

The futons and blankets the group were going to use had been moved to another room; a room that was separated from the bathroom by a wall that seemed to be made of only a few layers of paper.

Mako paid no attention to Ghazan's complaints or the wolves that had followed Zaheer to this room and were now padding around underfoot. He was occupied with checking and double-checking the equipment he had obtained. Anticipation curled with him, laced with dread. This was it. In the morning, they'd leave this place and he would be finally taking the first steps to actually hunting down Zolt. And then...

But he was broken from his dark thoughts when Korra suddenly belted out a particularly raucous verse of a song he'd never heard. But the lyrics he could make out and the general rhythm of the song seemed to imply it was quite upbeat.

Mako blinked at the wall the sounds were emanating from, wondering why he didn't find it as irritating as Ghazan obviously did. Zaheer was too absorbed in the wolves to be concerned with it; Mako suspected he wouldn't complain about Korra's singing even if it did bother him, while Ming Hua was strangely silent, sitting on her futon and glancing towards the direction of the bathroom every so often, rubbing the back of her neck.

He didn't know why he didn't find it irritating. Her singing was horribly off-key; even the echo provided by the walls of the shower couldn't make it sound passable. But at the same time, it was so Korra. She was singing in the shower. She probably knew she couldn't sing, but she was doing it anyway, because she enjoyed it, the obviously cheery tone of her voice left that in no doubt.

The singing stopped, accompanied by the sound of water shutting off and Ghazan's theatrical sigh of relief. A few moments later, Korra strode into the room, tugging a brush, that Mako assumed she'd picked it up in the bathroom, through her damp hair.

"Princess, has anyone ever told you that your singing seriously sucks?" Ghazan asked bluntly.

Korra paused in mid-stroke of the brush. "How did you know I was singing?"

"The wall between this room and the bathroom is about as thick as tissue paper."

"Oh," Korra flushed, and Mako wondered why he found her flustered expression so endearing. "I...uh...sorry. I didn't mean to subject you all to my singing..."

Korra was mortified. She knew her singing wasn't her greatest talent, which was why she only sang in the shower, where no one else could hear.

So she sat on her futon and dropped her eyes to the mattress as she dragged the brush through her hair, hoping the heat she could feel on her cheeks would recede.

"By the way, I've meant to ask you about your eyes," Ghazan went on. "I mean, how'd you end up with eyes so…blue?"

"Where's this coming from?" Korra chuckled. "But there's no explanation besides the obvious; I gained them from my parents. Mine are a pretty unusual colour, I grant you-"

"I think they're beautiful," Zaheer interjected softly as he stood and made his way to the door, obviously on his way to take his own turn in the bathroom.

The heat in Korra's cheeks came back with a vengeance. "Thanks."

Zaheer smiled at her and shut the door after him. A few moments later, Korra heard the shower in the bathroom start up quite clearly. Ghazan had been right, the walls _were_ paper-thin.

Ming Hua was staring after him, but didn't say a word. Korra caught the water bender's eye, but Ming Hua quickly dropped her gaze. Their little confrontation had apparently taken some of the starch out of her, but Korra knew better than to hope it would last long.

It didn't seem like Ming Hua had gone running to Mako for help but she was probably reluctant to admit that Korra had gotten the better of her even with the collar on.

Ghazan looked like he was on the verge of laughing as he stared at the closed door. "I think Zaheer's got a crush on Princess!"

Mako's hand slipped on the dagger he was sharpening, causing him to nearly slice his thumb.

"Leave him alone," Korra said severely, running her fingers through her hair to check for any residual tangles. She felt instinctively protective of Zaheer. While the man was at least three times her size, his strange innocence and naivety in the way of human interaction stirred vague protective impulses in her. "If you tease him about it and upset him, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do, but you won't like it!"

Ghazan's grin softened. "I've said it before and I'll say it again...you're a real soft touch, Princess."

"I suppose so," she said softly, petting one of the wolf cubs that had wandered over to her.

She didn't really think Zaheer had a crush on her, a lot of his behaviour could simply be explained by a lack of practice in human interaction, coupled with the fact she was the only one on the team who actually made an effort to get to know him, but she knew protesting wouldn't have stopped Ghazan. She thought her appeal might have, though, at the very least, she'd made it clear that if he used Zaheer's alleged crush to taunt the big man, she'd take revenge somehow.

Though she didn't want to, and actually tried to stop herself, Korra glanced at Mako, trying to determine his reaction to the news that Zaheer could be infatuated with her.

But he was determinedly sharpening a set of daggers, his expression set and his gaze never once lifting to hers.

* * *

"Are you sure you haven't stuck a piece of gum in here or something?" Ghazan muttered, twisting his head to get a better view of the collar's lock.

"I'm sure," Korra said. "Why?"

When she'd made her nightly attack on the collar, Ghazan had mentioned he'd done a spot of lock picking back in his youth, and had offered to help her. Korra had accepted eagerly, despite Mako's obvious scowl, but they had yet to get anywhere.

"This thing isn't sliding in far enough," the lava bending man said bluntly, lifting the needle he had been using. "It's like there's some sort of physical block against it."

Korra blinked. That would certainly explain why she had been unable to pick the lock. "But that makes no sense, if the needle can't slide in far enough, how was the key supposed to?"

"I'm just calling it like I see it, Princess."

"I guess." Korra scratched idly at the collar. "Well, at least you tried to get this thing off me, right?"

"Could I have a look?" Zaheer asked quietly.

"Knock yourself out," she offered, tilting her head back.

Large fingers traced the metal lock curiously, bracketing the smooth steel and flexing gently as though testing its strength.

"I am strong enough that I could probably pull this off you," he said in a low voice.

"I sense there's a 'but' coming," Korra quipped.

"But the force required to do so would probably break your neck in the bargain."

The medic sighed. "Okay...so no pulling it off me, no picking the lock. Anyone got any other bright ideas?"

"Let me see it."

Korra started, turning to face Mako. "You want to look at it?"

He nodded. Zaheer moved away from her and Mako took his place, sliding down onto the floor opposite her.

Korra was surprised when he rested his hands on either side of her neck, the slight pressure of his thumbs against her jaw urging her to tilt her head upwards. His eyes washed over her briefly, his amber orbs eventually retuning to her neck as he examined the circle of leather and steel.

"There is an electric current moving through it," he informed her.

Mako was finding it difficult to distinguish exactly how the collar worked. He had a basic understanding of how energy flowed through the body and could tell that the presence of the collar was causing Korra's energy to behave rather strangely. Her energy was roiling and seething inside her like turbulent water seeking an exit, and the glow of her energy was so strong it easily overwhelmed the small throb from the collar.

He knew it was there; he could sense it like a shadow flitting in front of the sun, but he couldn't make out exactly what it was doing.

"Ming Hua, do you have any experience with these kinds of collars?" he asked.

Karin shook her head, glancing at Korra resentfully but remaining mute.

Almost without thinking, Mako found his hands slipping around to cradle the back of Korra's head, urging her to tilt it forwards.

She did so without complaint, and the unspoken faith in that gesture, it took a lot of trust for a person to willingly bare the back of their neck in such a position, nearly took his breath away.

Korra shivered slightly as she felt Mako's calloused fingers combing her hair away from her neck, and she wondered at the fact she wasn't more tense. She was blatantly displaying one of her body's most vital points to him, in a position she would find it difficult to fight back in and yet somehow, she didn't find herself worried.

Wasn't it only a few weeks ago that she'd been nervous about lying down while he was sitting?

Mako brushed the last of her hair away, the damp strands were softer and thicker than he anticipated, and the slight moisture made them cling to the skin of his fingers and Korra's neck. For a moment, a crazy impulse seized him to bend over and press his lips to the bare mocha skin beneath his hands.

He didn't dwell on the thought, choosing instead to stare at the slightly raised portion of metal holding the pulsing with the electric current that was currently crippling Korra.

"Do you have any idea what the range the current is?" he found himself asking.

"I have too many ideas," Korra told him, wondering if Mako was consciously aware of the fact that his fingers were stroking the nape of her neck. "Do you have any idea of the staggering amounts of electric pulses that can affect the human body? Each range tends to vary in strength and symptom, of course, but even taking that into account I still couldn't guess what voltage I'm being subject to. I have no idea what voltage I'm being given at any one time and meddling with the electric current with bending could be deadly." She finished with a shake of her head so gentle it barely moved her neck beneath his fingers. "So, in other words, there's no way to tell what current is running through this collar."

"Hm."

Mako suddenly realised his fingers were stroking back and forth across the nape of her neck. He snatched his hands back and stood up, placing some distance between their bodies as he wondered exactly how long he had been doing that and if she was going to read anything into it.

But when she sat upright once more, she didn't seem perturbed in the slightest – just arranged her short hair over her shoulders once more and went back to talking to Ghazan and Zaheer.

And Mako was left to wonder why her non-reaction had made him feel strangely disappointed.

That night, when the room was lit only by a single, guttering candle and all the others were asleep, Mako rolled over in his futon to study Korra.

She was on her side, her face turned towards him, her expression peaceful and relaxed, and a hint of a smile lurking in the curve of her lips. Many of the cubs had curled up beside her in small heaps of fur strewn across the futon. Several were dozing at her feet, and many had taken advantage of the hollows provided by the bend of her knees and the curve of her spine. A large bundle of white fur had tucked itself beneath her chin, and another was crowning her head. Small, wet ruffles in her hair showed where the canine had tried to groom her.

Mako stared, trying to pinpoint what it was about her that made her so fascinating, what drew people to her.

And animals, too, for that matter, he reflected, looking again at the bundles of fur scattered across Korra's futon. There were a few cubs sleeping with Zaheer, but none had ventured near Ghazan, Ming Hua or himself.

So, what was it about Korra?

She was pretty, yes, perhaps even the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her chocolate brown hair was certainly eye-catching and her eyes were an unusually bright shade of turquoise, unlike the many other people of her Nation, but it couldn't be just that, could it? There had to be something that could explain why people were so helplessly drawn to her.

Ghazan, a bloodthirsty Lava bender, had spent most of their acquaintance teasing her with a gentleness he'd never shown to anyone else. Zaheer seemed totally devoted to her.

The more Mako thought about it, the more he came to realise that there was something intangible about Korra that just drew people to her. Bolin was the same, come to think of it, just louder and more obvious about it.

The wolf cub beneath her chin shifted in its sleep and Korra mumbled something under her breath as she drifted close to wakefulness before slipping off again. A small hand slipped from the cover and half-curled against the pillow.

It looked deceptively delicate, until Mako's eyes made out the callouses on her palm, formed from years of bending and handling various melee weapons, and the scar on her cheek, perhaps a result of a bending spar taken too far.

Aside from the scars, her skin was smooth, the barest dips and hollows hinting at the taut muscle beneath, like velvet laid over steel. Without his permission, his mind flashed back to when he'd barged into the bathroom, thinking

she'd vanished, and found her in front of the mirror, hair damp, skin glistening, the thin, wet towel clinging to every inch of her body...

In that moment, arousal had hit him like a bowling ball. He had practically run from the room in an effort to get out of Korra's sight before it decided to manifest itself further.

He was feeling that same arousal curl within him now. Except this time, it was mixed with a strange feeling of responsibility, as though the sleeping woman he was watching was something to be treasured carefully.

Korra smiled a little in her sleep and her arm flexed as though she were reaching for something.

And for a moment, Mako was gripped with a wild, desperate urge to reach out and brush his fingers down the line of her arm, to trace the veins that lay beneath the skin...

"Mako?"

Mako's eyes jerked to Korra's face, startled to see turquoise eyes peering sleepily back at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," he said abruptly, turning over in the futon and presenting his back to her. "Go back to sleep. It's nothing."

_'It's nothing,'_ he told himself. _'It's nothing...'_

But he knew it was a lie.

* * *

I know that some people are going to dislike my choice on writing Zaheer the way that i have but tough luck. This is an AU story, meaning the characters are NOT as they are in the series. I've had enough of people reviewing and telling me how to write my own story and in regards I have this to say; You don't like it, don't read it. For those of you who do like it and who review with words of encouragement, thank you. I've not had much time to write chapters recently due to University, my relationship and life in general, but I hope to be back at it within the next few weeks.

Bonami27.


	12. Chapter 12

Cadence Chapter Twelve: Allied forces.

* * *

Korra took a deep breath, grateful to taste fresh air on her tongue. It was such a relief to be out of the tunnels.

After a quick breakfast and a last minute check of their supplies, the group had left the Equalist hideout. Most of them had acquired new clothes, and all five were currently wearing black cloaks that Korra assumed were meant to be some sort of unofficial uniform. Apparently, this was where the hunting-Zolt-down phase of Mako's plan came into action.

"So...where are we headed?" Korra asked.

"To the Triple Threat Triads," Mako said.

She rolled her eyes. "Gee, could you be a little more cryptic with that?"

He ignored her, and she frowned. He went from stroking her neck and staring at her while she slept, when she'd awoken with his amber eyes on her she was fairly certain that was what he had been doing, to outright ignoring her?

She decided not to think about it for the moment and to just enjoy the feeling of being above ground again.

She noted with amusement that a few birds were hovering above Zaheer. The man extended one large arm towards them, smiling gently as one settled on his wrist.

Korra blinked. She'd never seen anyone do that with a wild bird before. Was this another of Zaheer's strange abilities?

Zaheer seemed to notice the direction of her gaze. "Do you want to hold one?"

"Can I?" she asked timidly. "I mean, if I'm going to scare it or something..."

"It's fine," he said, extending the hand the bird perched on towards her arm, tilting it slightly to urge the bird to move to Korra's wrist.

A small flutter of wings, and Korra felt tiny claws prick her skin. The bird observed her from its perch with small dark eyes.

"Wow..." she breathed. "How do you do this?"

Zaheer shrugged. "That's like me asking how you managed to tame a wild polar bear dog; it's nothing something I'm able to explain."

"Better hope it doesn't shit on your hand, Princess," Ghazan quipped.

Korra let out a hesitant laugh.

"We're going," Mako barked, feeling needled somehow by her casual interaction with Ghazan and Zaheer.

Korra rolled her eyes but started after him obediently, deliberately jostling her wrist so the bird took flight and winged back to Zaheer.

* * *

It was only when they were practically on top of the small town that Korra learned Mako was going to check out a small settlement that had recently been having difficulties with a group that sounded very much like the Triple Threat Triad and that they were also going to meet with the lord of the town. Korra still didn't know how Mako had gained entrance, but figured the Equalist name was a powerful one even outside of the elite circles.

Korra's immediate impression of the town's lord had simply been 'creep'. She knew a lot of lords were fair, decent people who tried to consider the needs and wants of their citizens, but some of them were obnoxious trolls who were too absorbed in their money, buying themselves anything and everything they wanted.

Unfortunately, it seemed this particular lord was one of the latter. Korra swore she could actually feel her skin crawl when the man's speculative eye had drifted up and down her toned body. Fortunately, he had seemed to find Ming Hua more appealing than herself, and had been quite content to ogle her for the rest of the conversation, while Mako masqueraded them as a mercenary group who had heard he was having a problem and could deal with it, for a fee, of course.

So when they finally retired to the small hut he'd provided for them, Korra was nothing but relieved. Sure, they hadn't actually settled anything, there would be more haggling in the morning over the exact nature of the problem and how it would be solved and a dozen other things she didn't really care about at the moment, but she could rest for now.

And try not to think about the fact that this might very well lead Mako straight to Zolt.

"I think he liked you, Princess," Ghazan commented. "He was eyeing you up something fierce."

"He liked Ming Hua more," she said absent mindendly.

The older woman smirked, as though the lord's regard for her had been indicative of some sort of personal victory. "He just knows beauty when he sees it!" she declared.

"Well, there's no accounting for taste," Ghazan muttered.

"Nobody asked for your opinion Ghazan!" Ming Hua snarled, smashing her watery fist into the side of his head.

Korra flinched when Ming Hua's hand dissolved into a wash of water for one brief moment before reforming. Korra had yet to get past the sheer creepiness of seeing parts of her body dissolve.

"They never do anything but fight..." Zaheer reflected.

"Just leave them to it," Korra sighed, having past experience with bickering friends told her that the best course of action was to just let it run its course. As long as they didn't start tearing down the hut, she really didn't have the energy or the inclination to intervene.

Mako seemed to be much of the same mind; he was already commandeering one corner of their lodging for himself, ignoring Ghazan and Ming Hua.

She tuned into the argument just long enough to hear Ghazan's sneer about Ming Hua 'snuggling up to the lord', when Mako cut in.

"If he is attracted to Ming Hua, it is simply another avenue we can work on him from."

Korra was rather startled by his line of thought. At times, Mako seemed so devoid of sexual desire that it was surprising that he should recognise it in another person.

Ghazan snickered. "Why do I get the feeling you'd be singing a very different tune if the guy had been ogling Princess?"

Mako pretended not to hear him though in truth Ghazan's words held an uncomfortable weight to them. If the lord's attention had gravitated more towards Korra, Mako knew he wouldn't have considered it as possible leverage, however slight. Partly because he knew what Korra would say to him if he told her to flirt with the lord, and it wouldn't be flattering, but mostly because the mental picture of another man drooling over Korra caused a strange possessiveness to take root in his gut.

"You have a scar," Zaheer said quietly, breaking Mako from his thoughts.

The fire bender turned his head; Korra had frozen in the act of stretching her arms high over her head, which in turn had hiked her shirt up above her navel, revealing the smooth mocha skin of her abdomen as well as a collection of scars that decorated her flesh. Most of them were faint and thin, the normal relics of her Avatar duties but there was one, a wide, vertical line, that was still the dull pink of a wound inflicted in the last few months, the callous tissue it was forming was an indication that it had been a very deep injury.

It was strange to think of Korra as having battle wounds and yet, that was what that scar clearly was. A battle scar.

It took Mako several moments to realise that Zaheer was on the opposite side of Korra, and was therefore looking at another scar. He shifted just enough to glimpse at another line of pink skin in almost the exact same spot as the scar on her back.

As though someone had run her through.

"Were you stabbed?" Ghazan asked, apparently having spotted the same scars.

"Not fast enough to get out of the way?" Ming Hua scoffed.

"You're actually right for once, Ming Hua. It was a training accident; General Iroh was teaching me how to redirect lightning and I was too slow in reacting to his bending," Korra said, rather vaguely as she tugged her shirt down again.

"And you were impaled," Zaheer commented.

"Yes, essentially." Korra nodded.

"But, hey, I thought you were a healer," Ghazan commented. "I mean, I'm sure you could patch yourself up, and I thought most healing techniques didn't leave scars."

Korra shook her head slightly. "Unless you have a bolt of lightning ranging in the hundreds of thousands of amps coursing through you. Not exactly something that's easily healed."

Ming Hua was silent, for once, apparently unable to come up with a scathing comment. Mako wasn't saying anything either, but when Korra risked a glance in his direction to see how he took the news. There was something smouldering in his amber eyes. She couldn't identify it, but it made her feel uncomfortable, whatever _it_ was, causing her to drop her gaze.

* * *

Mako opened his eyes, wondering what had awakened him. Then he heard a muffled giggle, and slowly turned over on his futon to find Korra and Zaheer at the window, their profiles edged in silvery moonlight, with an owl perched on the windowsill between them.

"-and you really understand them?" Korra was whispering. "For real? Like they were talking to you?"

"Not exactly," Zaheer corrected. "It's not like talking, at least, not what you andI would consider talking. Their minds grasp very basic, fundamental concepts only they don't understand sentences, but they understand the subject of the sentence. Does that make sense?"

"In a way. So, you're sort of talking to them, but it's more like some sort of telepathy or something like that."

"Something like that."

"That's pretty cool."

Her soft laugh followed her rather schoolyard statement, so quiet it was more like rapid, huffing breaths than an actual chuckle.

"So, why are you up?" Korra asked, turning to Zaheer, enough so so that Mako could see the honest concern in her eyes.

"I don't sleep well," Zaheer admitted. "I have nightmares. And the urges make me restless."

Korra nodded, apparently unconcerned at the fact that the huge man beside her had just admitted to being sleepless as a result of murderous impulses.

"There's something I wanted to ask you…" she began slowly as Zaheer stroked a finger down the owl's chest. "I didn't ask you before, because it seems kind of personal to ask this, away from a medical setting and everything..."

Zaheer gave her a puzzled glance.

"Would you let me examine you? I mean, with the collar on, I might not be able to do much to help you, but I might be able to find out something that could help you with your urges..."

"...You really think you could?" Zaheer's voice was small, the tone of someone who was far too used to dead hopes.

"I'll certainly try," Korra said, not wanting to make promises she might not be able to keep.

Zaheer nodded, still looking hesitant and disbelieving. Korra reached out and gently touched his temple, and the soft light of pure energy began to gather around her hands.

"Is it safe to do this with the collar on?" the older man asked, looking concerned.

"I'll just be examining you – I won't have to use much energy."

"But-"

"Shhh; let me concentrate."

Zaheer subsided, and Korra's eyes took on a strangely glazed expression, as though she were looking through the man's skin to the blood and bone beneath.

The moment dragged on, and just as Mako was beginning to feel his eyelids droop again, Korra drew her hands away.

"It seems they're trigged by an excess of adrenaline," she murmured to Zaheer, though more to herself. "But there are other compounds present almost like some sort of super-charged growth hormone, but it's more than that..."

She shook her head. "I'll try again another time, I had trouble grasping it now, it seems to be ebbing..."

Zaheer nodded. "The urges are starting to die. They come and go but they are never quiet for long. And eventually..."

"You just snap," Korra finished, rather sadly.

There was a pause, and Zaheer seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "You said I reminded you of a friend..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah..."

"May I ask who? Is there someone else like me?"

Korra's heart squeezed. "No, not quite like you. It's more complicated than that..." She hesitated, her urge to connect with Zaheer wrestling with her Avatar instinct to protect her knowledge of the Avatar universe when away from Republic City.

"There have been report that there's someone like me out there. That we have something inside us, like your urges, but it's actually a separate entity. And while this _entity_ can give us enough power to stomp pretty much any opponent into the ground, the more power it takes, the more we lose ourselves."

Mako knew she was talking about Raava.

"Is that why you left?" Zaheer asked, not sounding accusing, only curious.

"I did not leave Republic City!" Korra hissed. "I'd be there right now if Mako would let me go!"

Another pause; this one much heavier. Korra was frowning, and Mako tried to ignore the twinge of guilt at the sight.

"You really are being held against your will?" Zaheer asked, and there was a hint of anger in his voice. "I mean, you were arguing with Mako yesterday, but I thought perhaps he was saying he would not take you somewhere..."

"No, I've been abducted. So if I try to escape, do me a favour and don't try to stop me."

"Mako truly_ is _holding you against your will…" This time there was more than a hint of anger in Zaheer's voice.

Korra smiled. Zaheer's obvious anger on her behalf was rather touching, but she didn't want him antagonising Mako over it. She had the feeling that this was the first time Zaheer had experienced any sort of human contact in a very long time, and she didn't want to jeopardise that.

"Yeah, but don't argue with him about it. He seems to think he has justifiable reasons, though I must admit I'd love to hear what they are."

Zaheer looked slightly mollified, but he was still frowning.

Korra found herself feeling very touched. It struck her that Zaheer was the first person to really object to her captivity on her behalf; Ming Hua's protests had nothing to do with Korra's wellbeing, and while Ghazan was aware she was being held against her will, he didn't try to rectify the situation.

Zaheer was the first person who seemed as angry as she was over her captivity, and as if on impulse, Korra leaned forward and hugged him, resting her head against his chest.

"But thanks for caring," she whispered.

Mako had the distinct feeling that he was intruding on a private moment, but something in him didn't want to look away.

Their embrace looked strange, mainly because of the contrasts between them. Korra would have needed an extra ten centimeters in height to make it to Zaheer's collarbone, and when the large man awkwardly wrapped his arms around Korra, slowly, as though afraid he might hurt her somehow, almost her entire torso was hidden by his limbs.

Korra held the hug for a moment, feeling the gentle hesitancy in Zaheer's hold, as though he wasn't quite sure how to return the embrace. Then she pulled away, smothering a rising yawn with her hand.

"Well, as much as I like chatting with you and your friend," she gestured to the owl on the windowsill, "I think I need to get to sleep again."

"Why did you wake up?" There was nothing but gentle curiosity in Zaheer's voice, and Korra smiled softly.

"I don't really know," she shrugged. "I just did. I have nights like that sometimes."

Mako closed his eyes as Korra turned around, hearing her bedclothes rustle as she slipped between them once more.

"Goodnight, Zaheer..." it was little more than a sleepy mumble.

"Goodnight, Korra."

When Mako risked opening his eyes once more, Korra was dead to the world and Zaheer was staring out at the night sky, a grave expression painted across his face.

* * *

Mako woke again when dawn was just beginning to colour the sky. It was with some surprise that he noticed that Korra was already awake, sitting casually on the windowsill, one leg dangling into the room, swinging slowly as though she were dabbling it in some invisible pool.

It was her face that was the most arresting. There was a strange expression of peace and reflection painted across it, like the face of some goddess contemplating the human race.

"I'm not escaping, Mako, so don't bother getting up," she said softly, without turning around.

Mako didn't reply. He rose silently and made his way to the window, trying to determine what Korra found so fascinating. But she was just looking at the sunrise, a sad smile pulling on her lips.

And for the first time, Mako realised how much she'd changed. He'd known, intellectually, that she'd changed, but while he'd _known_, he'd always suppressed and smothered any true acknowledgment, any true realisation of the fact that the _woman_ who stared into the dawn was not the same_ girl_ he'd left behind all those years ago.

This was a woman who lived in the thick of battle, instead of standing on the sidelines. This was a woman who saw obstacles as things to conquer instead of things to cry about. This was a woman who extended her hand and her heart to outcasts, instead of ridiculing them along with everyone else. This was a woman who gave insult for insult, a woman who openly questioned him rather than accepting his words without a second thought.

This was a woman who repaid his indifference with indifference of her own, instead of love.

"What's the point of all this, Mako?" she asked quietly, her voice a sad whisper. "Why bring me along? I can barely perform a passable healing with this damn collar on, I can't use my Avatar strength and you _certainly_ aren't having sex with me. So why? You've never wanted anything to do with me before so why the sudden change of heart?"

There was accusation in her voice, barely covering the bitterness beneath it.

Mako shifted his jaw, struck with the sudden urge to deny her thinly-veiled barb. He hadn't wanted 'nothing to do with her' when they had first met, courtesy of his brother. Yes, she had been annoying at first, he found all girls irritating, but eventually he'd come to care for her.

She was his friend.

_Had been his friend_.

"I had to bring you along," he settled upon saying.

Korra's turquoise eyes were sad, and for a moment, just a split second, Mako wanted to stroke her hair, to touch her cheek, to do something to cheer her up. But he didn't know how to begin and so he did nothing.

And for the first time, this inability to offer comfort to another human being made him feel strangely inadequate. As though he'd failed some crucial test.

"But _why?_" she asked again. Her voice was small and pained, Mako would have preferred her to be furious.

And the truth was out of his mouth before he could stop it. "You're vulnerable with the collar on. I can't remove it, and I can't let you wander around without protection."

Korra gaped at him; she couldn't help it. That had been the last reason she would have thought of.

It was also a reason that sounded dangerously like he cared.

_'Maybe he does...'_ came the involuntary thought. _'You have to admit, he's been acting rather..._protective_...lately.'_

A small seed of hope flowered within her. Perhaps Mako's connection to Republic City wasn't as broken as he liked to think. If nothing else, he'd shown that he felt responsible for her, even if the suggestion that she was incapable of taking care of herself made her want to throttle him.

While Korra wasn't quite ready to forgive him for dragging her off with him, she felt some of her icy anger melt, thawed by the hint of hope that maybe her and Bolin's efforts hadn't been in vain.

Mako turned away suddenly, though Korra wasn't too surprised; she had a feeing those brief sentences had filled Mako's emotional revelations quota for the entire week. Maybe month.

Ghazan's theatrical groaning as he rose would have shattered their peace anyway. Zaheer blinked awake, having dozed off in the corner at some point in the night, and Ming Hua muttered angrily about pre-dawn risings.

"When's breakfast?" were the first words out of Ghazan's mouth.

"Later," Mako snapped. "Ming Hua and I are going to speak to the lord again."

Korra shook her head in exasperation. Of course he was eager to go; he had a possible lead on Zolt, and that to Mako was like dangling sausages in front of a bloodhound.

* * *

_'And now it's raining,'_ Korra thought venomously, tugging the hood of the cloak she was wearing over her head.

The skies had opened up a few hours after they'd left the village behind. Apparently the lord had pointed Mako and Ming Hua towards an area where the Triple Threat Triad had often been sighted. Korra couldn't guess why; it seemed rather desolate to her.

But then again, that was just her. Maybe they had some secret base somewhere around here, underground, as seemed to be the trend with hideouts lately.

Korra glanced up at the dark clouds overhead, and a small, homesick part of her couldn't help but wonder if it was raining in Republic City.

* * *

"This is pretty lousy weather," Ikki commented, glancing at upwards at the grey clouds that were currently pouring rain onto their party.

A party that consisted of Bolin, Asami, Jinora, Ikki and Lin, all dressed in heavy, waterproof cloaks and ready to set out. One of Tenzin's many sources had mentioned that Mako and Korra had been sighted in a village on the outskirts of the Fire Nation, and this was the team Lin had dispatched to liberate her the Avatar.

Bolin's eyes were fierce and hard, staring into the rain as though he had some personal vendetta against it. "Who cares about a little bit of rain? Let's go!"

Lin couldn't help noticing that although Bolin had not been elected leader of the team, everyone automatically moved off, responding to the determination and inherent authority in his voice. He didn't bother pointing out that he had been placed in charge, choosing instead to step out as well without complaint.

He had enough to think about.

It was disconcerting to think that this mission, if successful, would involve freeing Korra from Mako's clutches. Lin had done her best not to dwell on the guilt that festered in her gut when she thought of the boy she had come to love, the boy she had such high hopes for, betraying Republic City, willingly going to Amon and learning those dark, twisted techniques.

But now she couldn't stop thinking about it. Because Mako had, to everyone's knowledge, abducted Korra. From what Bolin and Korra had told her, Mako had been perfectly willing to cut Korra down the last time they'd met. So if Korra was still alive, Mako had to have some reason for keeping her alive.

And Lin didn't want to think too hard about what those reasons might be. She wanted to think that Mako couldn't be abusing Korra, but common sense told her otherwise. Who knew how the fire bender had changed over two years spent with Amon? Who knew the person he had become?

Even while she fretted over the state of the young Avatar, some part of Lin couldn't help mourning the eighteen year old she had known. Because if Mako really had raped Korra, then Lin knew that meant the boy that Mako had been; cold and disdainful, yet beneath it all, protective of the people he cared for, no longer existed.

* * *

Yay for a new chapter! I do apologise for the delayed rate of updates; university work is crippling me. Again, I'm writing the story how I see fit. Zaheer is written in a way that he begins to take on a role similar to Tenzin, he's a calming presence for Korra in her time of captivity and her for him. Mmmm... What else is there to say? We're looking at about another fifteen of so chapters until the story is finished... Review as always!


	13. Chapter 13

Cadence Chapter Thirteen: Verdict

* * *

They were sighted around here," Lin said as the rescue party came to a halt.

She glanced around at their surroundings, but there were no overt signs of enemy presence; she hadn't really expected there to be.

At least it had stopped raining.

"We'll make this our starting point," she went on. "And we'll fan out in all directions to search the surrounding five kilometers. Our wireless communication won't reach that far, so for this mission, Jinora, we'll be counting on you at all times."

Jinora nodded in understanding. Her Spiritual project would be vital if they were to have any hope in heaven of finding Korra. Alive.

With that, Lin bent down and stuffed the map of the United Nations into her pouch.

"Alright, we split up in teams of two in search of Mako and Korra, but should they ever divide, your first priority is to track Korra. And if any of you encounter the Triple Threat Triad, flee on sight and return here."

She gestured that they were dismissed, and the party dispersed.

* * *

Korra watched Ghazan and Zaheer jump off into the trees around them with a sigh. There went her conversation-buddies. Mako had apparently deemed it prudent for them to split up, and while Korra had a half-hearted hope she would be allowed to go off on her own and thus escape, she wasn't putting a lot of stock in it.

"Mako..." Korra's attention was drawn by Ming Hua cuddling up to Mako's side, her voice taking on a distinctly flirtatious tone. "I've wanted to be alone with you for a while; just send the little girl along now..."

"You have to go too," Mako stated dryly.

"What about _her_?" Ming Hua huffed, pointing at Korra. "Is _she_ going?"

"No. She stays with me."

Korra sighed. No opportunity to escape here.

After all, even if Mako had been unusually clear about his motives in taking her along, that didn't mean she still wasn't going to jump at any chance she was given to get back home.

"Why? What makes her so special?"

"I'm the only one who can keep her from escaping," Mako said curtly.

He knew it was true. Ming Hua resented Korra so much so that she would probably just let her go. Ghazan liked her too much to really try to stop her; he might protest, but Mako doubted he'd actually fight to stop her leaving. And Zaheer…

Mako had detected a touch of resentment from the large man since his conversation with Korra last night. If Korra told him she was trying to escape, Zaheer was so devoted to her he'd probably her help in doing so.

Ming Hua walked off in a huff, and Korra tried not to feel pleased by Mako's obvious disdain for the woman. If anything, she should be feeling rather sorry for Ming Hua. She had yet to learn that her behaviour got nowhere with Mako. Korra knew firsthand that gaining such knowledge was painful.

Rejection always was.

They'd made their way to the end of the trail when Mako suddenly stopped, so suddenly that Korra nearly ran into him. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she saw the set expression on his face, the way his head was slightly turned to stare at the trees behind them and guessed that someone was on their tail.

She was proven correct when Mako slowly turned to face the forest, his arm sweeping out to urge her to stand behind him. Korra considered holding her ground stubbornly, but decided it was better to see exactly what was stalking them before she tried to act the part of the valiant heroine.

"Who's there?"

A figure stepped out from behind the trees, his face painted with a smirk.

"You're a Triple Threat," Mako said bluntly, tensing automatically. No one gained entrance to the Triple Threat without being extraordinarily strong, and he couldn't afford to be drawn into a possibly life-threatening battle while Korra was with him.

"So you're Mako, huh?" the man remarked, sounding unusually bright and cheery for someone who was a member of a group of murderers, thieves and squanderers. "You look a lot like Zolt!"

Korra could practically see Mako's spine straighten an extra inch as every muscle in his body snapped tight

_'He just _had_ to mention Zolt, didn't he?'_ she thought darkly.

She half-expected Mako to lunge at the man but he didn't move, apparently settling for an intimidating glare.

"Damn, you're scary!" the man yelped, skittering back into the trees.

Korra blinked, her brow furrowing; she'd never seen a member of the Triple Threat act like this. She wondered if he'd suffered brain damage somehow as she started to roll her eyes at the thought...

She was however brought up short when she spotted a flicker of shadow at the edge of her peripheral vision. She tilted her head to the side and saw a Sato Mobile heading down the trail her and Mako had just come down. A very familiar man behind the wheel.

"Viper!" she yelled, causing Mako to jerk his his head at her shout.

A grenade was making its wait straight for them.

Mako reacted quickly. He pulled Korra towards him, throwing part of his cloak over her as he blew fire from his fists. The flames coiled around them, creating a thick wall of smoke to shield their whereabouts from the grenade. He gripped Korra tightly and braced himself as the earth shook under their feet, reverberating with the impact of the explosion.

He released Korra as soon as the earth stopped shifting, banishing the smoke to see the two Triad members on the ground, facing them.

The water bender, Viper, Korra had called him, suddenly scowled. "You again?"

For a moment, Mako was confused until he realised Viper's ice blue eyes were on Korra.

"Hey, isn't that the girl who killed your other partner, Viper?" the man who'd initially confronted them commented. "Avatar Korra?"

"Yeah, that's me," Korra seethed.

To say Mako was startled was an understatement. He knew that being the Avatar meant Korra was requested to take part in unpleasant activities, but to have _killed_ a member of the Triple Threat Triad…

Viper grinned. "Well, won't this be interesting..."

"Korra, hide," Mako ordered, drawing his kali sticks from his pouch.

Korra's first impulse was to tell him where he could shove that suggestion, but her common sense won out. There were two Triple Threat members in front of her, and with the collar currently around her neck, she'd be lucky to get in even one blow. Exiting the battlefield definitely sounded better.

So she just nodded and promptly took off in the opposite direction, darting across the ground as she tried to put as much distance between her and the oncoming fight as possible.

* * *

Viper smirked. "You do realise we can just catch up with her after-"

But it was then that Mako charged forward.

He swung his kali sticks straight into the younger man, feeling a little surprised that it was so easy, as Viper leapt into the branches of a tree above his head.

"You seem to like the sound of your own voice," the fire bender commented, ignoring the body that dropped to the ground behind him. "So I'll ask you a few things about Zolt."

Movement behind him caught his eye, and he felt a small burst of astonishment as he watched the man he thought he'd killed rise to his feet.

"What the hell are you doing, Ping?" Viper yelled, and Mako mentally filed the name away for future reference. "He may be just a kid, but don't let your guard down!"

The water bender plunged his hands into two thick pouches at his side, grinning maniacally as he drew out a small collection of grenades. "Ping, get back!"

And then he unleashed them in a hail of destruction.

Mako grasped his collection of small melee weapons, using his lightning bending to charge them with electricity before he sent them sailing through the air to impact the grenades with uncanny accuracy and drive them off course. Several were pinned to the trees around them, but more landed beside the man called Ping.

"Don't detonate them!" Ping yelped.

Viper automatically turned towards his partner, and Mako took advantage of his distraction to position himself behind his opponent, his kali sticks poised for the killing blow. Ping shouted a warning and the water bender spun, throwing out one of his grenades in Mako's face, forcing the fire bender to call on every ounce of his speed to evade the resulting explosion.

Mako noted that the bombs pierced by his melee weapons didn't detonate, and wondered if the attack had been countered by his lightning bending or if Viper had simply chosen not to detonate them.

There was no way to know, so Mako watched closely for his next opportunity. Viper clenched his hands, almost as though he were going to pull out something nasty from his pouch. Mako had guessed right.

* * *

Within another stand of trees, Korra slowed her pace to a more moderate run, a pace she could maintain for quite some time.

It had occurred to her that if she just kept running, there wasn't much Mako could do to stop her. She could probably run all the way back to Republic City. He would be too busy with the Triad members at first, and then hopefully too exhausted from the fight to pursue her.

_Assuming he survives..._

Korra shook her head, telling herself that such thoughts were ridiculous. Mako had beaten Amon with barely a single injury so surely he could certainly take on a member of the Triple Threat…

But two?

_'This is my one chance to escape,'_ she told herself firmly. _'I will not give it up, I will not go back for him, I will not go back for him...'_

And yet, the memory of Mako's words to her just that morning haunted her. He had brought her along out of concern for her, misguided and unnecessary, perhaps, but genuine concern. He had tried to care for her welfare, in his own way.

Shouldn't she at least try to do the same?

_'No, I shouldn't,'_ she insisted. _'I need to return to Republic City. Spirits only know what stare the world is in.'_

She chanted it over and over in her mind, like a mantra, hoping it would dampen the growing flicker of guilt and longing that urged her to turn around and run back to Mako.

* * *

Mako eyed the gigantic bomb that Viper had procured from his pouch, wondering where this was going. Did he plan to use the bomb as a way of deterring Mako from a further fight? Or was it part of their plan to follow after Korra?

Mako had the feeling the man would soon be doing something with the bombs, so he lunged forward, intent on incapacitating the bomb-maker before either option could come to fruition.

Viper tossed a smaller bomb he happened to have handy in the direction of Mako. Mako leapt to the side, away from the immediate path of the bomb, but to his astonishment the bomb swerved as well, as though it were being guided somehow. He only just managed to dodge the immediate impact, however the force of the explosion slammed into him like a platinum wall, making him slide backwards several feet in a cloud of dust.

From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Viper preparing another attack but Ping was nowhere to be seen.

Mako had no idea what Ping could be doing with a slew of bombs that were not his own, but he knew it wouldn't benefit him in any way. He had to take Viper down first, then, hopefully, the bombs would be nothing but useless.

So he summoned the element of lightning to his hand, manipulating it to extend in a long, thin blade of pure electricity. He directed it towards Viper to no avail as it stopped just a few inches short of the target. Knowing that was the limit of his range, Mako discharged the lightning, trying to calculate Viper's next move. The man was obviously a long-range fighter, and if he remained as such, this battle was going to be difficult.

Nothing Mako couldn't handle of course, but difficult nevertheless.

Viper aimed another onslaught of mini bombs, and Mako only just managed to get out of the way in time. But when he left the dust cloud, his foot had barely touched the ground before it detonated below him, as though he'd stepped on a bomb instead of earth.

There was no time to get out of the way. It was all Mako could do to flip himself backwards, using the strength in his legs in an attempt to minimise the damage.

In the end, he lost one of his boots and ended up with a lot of scrapes and bruises. But there was no critical damage.

Mako's head jerked to the side as movement caught his eye. Ping appeared, one hand waving enthusiastically.

"I'm done laying the mines!" he called, and Mako knew what had happened. The ground was riddled with Viper's land mines, and that he'd had the misfortune of stepping on one.

He barely heard Viper's warning to his partner to get away from the battlefield; he was too busy seeking out Korra's presence, trying to determine if she was far away enough…

She was. And only getting further away, he realised rather grimly, but at least she was out of the minefield and the immediate range of the explosions.

Some part of Mako could admire Viper's strategy. Not using his element of water against Mako's opposing element of fire and instead choosing to utilise land mines in the ground and guided bombs from any given direction? He didn't imagine many opponents lasted long beneath such a well thought out onslaught.

"You might want to be careful," Viper called down mockingly. "One wrong step and you'll go 'boom!'"

Mako made careful note of the fact that it seemed that Viper couldn't detonate the bombs at will. Did that mean the bombs pierced by his earlier melee weapons hadn't exploded because his lightning had somehow canceled out their explosive powers?

A plan was beginning to unfold in Mako's mind. His heightened senses allowed him to sense energy, and he could tell that he was completely surrounded by the land mines. But if electricity really worked to nullify them...

A moment later another bomb was making its way towards him and Mako let it come, flinging his charged kali sticks, to the side. The bomb landed straight on his left shoulder, and the resulting explosion knocked him down and caused severe burns to his upper arm.

He groaned, trying to push the pain to the back of his mind.

Korra could probably heal it later, but he couldn't dwell on that possibility right now.

He could see his kali sticks had come to a halt several meters from him. They had embedded deeply into the ground, blade first, straight into a mine and there had been no resulting explosion.

It seemed his suspicion that electricity could counter the bombs had become fact. Now all he needed to do was coax Viper into position near his blades.

Sheltered by the dust cloud, he unleashed two daggers, throwing them high into the air, gripping the wires attached to them firmly in his hand. Just a little more...

The dust cleared in a sudden gust of wind to reveal Viper preparing to deploy another bomb. Mako tugged on the wires, causing the daggers to reverse their trajectories, doubling back on their path and aiming perfectly for Viper.

Viper moved out of the way of the oncoming attack, letting the daggers fly harmlessly past and placing itself directly in front of the kali sticks.

Mako barely heard Viper's taunting laughter or saw him unleashing another bomb, he was so focused on his objective. As the bomb descended, he leapt to the side, landing as nimbly as a cat on the hilt of his kali sticks and using them to launch himself forward.

When he deemed he was close enough, he unleashed his lightning blade and this time, it found its mark, neatly cleaving one of Viper's arms from his body.

The man fell to his knees, unable to stay standing due to the sudden onslaught of agony ripping through his body. Mako tugged on the wires in his hand again, twisting the daggers through the air until they slammed into Viper's shoulder, pinning him to the ground, ensuring he would feel every bit of impact when he eventually fell onto the mines he had made.

He hit the ground, and the resulting explosion felled several trees and kicked up a screen of dust so thick Mako could barely see through it.

* * *

The ground suddenly rumbled dangerously under Korra's feet as an explosion lit up the forest behind her.

She paused, biting her lip as she glanced over her shoulder. A lot of weight had just been added to the argument for going back.

She told herself not to worry; she'd seen firsthand how powerful Mako was.

But still, what if he was hurt?

In that split-second, Korra knew she couldn't deny that Mako still had a place in her heart.

"_Darn it!_" she yelled, stomping her foot like an intractable child. But at the moment, Korra felt like having a bit of a temper tantrum. It wasn't fair! How could she still feel something for a man who had defected from his hometown, tried to kill his own brother and herself, abandoned her and essentially kidnapped her? It just wasn't fair!

Korra knew she should just keep running. Looking at it logically, Mako was her captor; she owed him nothing.

But at the same time, she couldn't forget that his reason for kidnapping her had very little to do with malice and a lot to do with genuine regard for her safety. And Mako had been almost _nice_ in the past few days, as though now that he was out of the Equalists grasp he was free to unwind a little. If nothing else, he was certainly a lot more willing to chat.

But it all came down to the fact that she was just trying to justify what she was considering. Trying to justify that she knew she'd never forgive herself if she didn't turn around. No one would blame her for abandoning him. No one except herself. She might be able to slip away in the dead of night without a flicker of guilt but she couldn't bring herself to run out on Mako in the middle of a brawl.

So, with a final sigh at her idiotic heart, Korra turned and ran back the way she'd come.

* * *

Mako weakening arms to wrap around a tree trunk and pull him into the forest, stopping in a place where he knew he was safe from the land mines. He wiped some sweat from his brow as he gazed into the billowing smoke, trying to determine if he'd succeeded.

Apparently not, because Viper rose from the dust of the explosion. But the explosion had done some damage; the man's clothes were streaked with his own blood.

Viper's face was twisted in a mix of agony and fury, and this time when he drew grenades from his pouches, he didn't utilise them straight away.

He set them.

Mako stared, wondering what kind of technique this was meant to be until he heard the distinctive ticking of a bomb. And if it was a timed bomb...

Mako turned and ran through the trees, desperately trying to put enough distance between himself and the bomb so that he wouldn't be blown to pieces when it detonated. So afraid that the bomb would blow up at any given moment.

But it didn't blow up. Instead, it crumbled.

For a moment, Mako thought it might have been a dud. Perhaps Viper didn't have enough gumption left to make the explosive effective?

But then his senses picked up the cloud of energy that was swirling towards him.

It wasn't a dud. It had just disintegrated into bombs too tiny for him to see. Tiny enough for him to inhale. And once he did...

Mako didn't need to be a genius to know what would happen if those bombs detonated while in his body.

Viper was hovering just outside the cloud of bombs. If he could get to him...

He launched himself into the forest, making his way towards Viper.

Viper however wasn't one to be caught off guard, noticing that Mako was coming up behind him. He half-turned towards the attack but had reacted too late, as Mako drove his lightning-infused fist straight through Viper's chest.

"I missed your heart on purpose," Mako hissed. "Now tell me where Zolt is."

He thought he heard an explosion from a distance, but disregarded it; it was probably some unwitting animal that had stepped on one of the land mines.

Viper smirked and grabbed onto Mako with his only good arm.

In desperation to escape, Mako charged up more lightning and tore his way free of the man's vice grip. But he knew he didn't stand a chance of escaping the final slew of bombs he knew were coming his way.

So as he fell towards the ground, Mako turned his lightning on himself, hoping the electricity would nullify the explosives before they could detonate. And as he did, Mako could have sworn he'd heard more bombs go off in the distance, but told himself it wasn't his concern.

* * *

_"Yikes..."_ Korra whispered, gazing at the innocuous-looking expanse of dirt in front of her.

But appearances were deceiving. She'd just seen a lizard wander over the ground and get blown sky-high as though it had stepped on a land mine.

Which wasn't completely out of the realm of probability, she admitted. She knew that Viper had a soft spot for pyrotechnics; maybe he'd planted them there during his fight with Mako.

_'Okay,'_ she told herself. _'Think this through. You'll just have to detonate the bombs before you step on the ground.'_

She stood her ground, lifting up several clods of dirt, and flung one down to the ground right in front of her.

Nothing happened. She figured she was probably still a little way out of the range of the minefield, so Korra flung the other clump of rock she'd bent from the Earth and tossed it a little further that the one prior.

The ensuing explosion showered her with dust and set her coughing, but at least she knew she'd detonated a mine.

So Korra leapt neatly into the center of the crater, poised on one foot, not daring to set the other down in case she set off another mine. She flung another clod of dirt, detonated another mine in front of her, and leapt to the middle of the crater again.

It was like a very deadly variation of hopscotch.

Mako lay heavily on the ground, every cell in his body screaming, but seeing as he hadn't been blown to microscopic particles of dust, he assumed his trick with the lightning had worked, even if it left every part of him aching with the aftershocks of the electricity he had run through himself.

He could tell by Viper's laughter that the man thought him dead. It was a simple matter for Mako to sweep out of the trees behind the man and plant his fist in the man's face, sending him rolling across the ground.

"Where is Zolt?" Mako asked grimly, advancing slowly on the Triad lackey.

Viper snarled, sending solidified water shooting from his hands to pierce Mako's chest. The fire bender let the electricity of his lightning bending crackle across his skin, lacing down the floor, traveling along the ground.

Viper hastened to break contact with the ice before he could be shocked.

Mako tried to continue his advance, but his legs folded beneath him, sending him lurching to the ground on his knees.

The two men faced each other across a distance of a few meters, both of them bruised, bloodied, and almost out of energy.

"Geez, you guys don't look so good," came a voice from the trees.

Mako turned, surprised to see Korra standing at the edge of the clearing, her clothes streaked with dust and sweat. He had been so exhausted he hadn't sensed her approach.

"What are you doing here?" Mako snarled.

"And the man half-dead on his knees yells at the healer who came to save his sorry ass," she muttered, shaking her head.

Viper gave a very nasty grin. "You picked a bad time to come back."

He shed the tattered remnants of his shirt, revealing a line of TNT placed across his chest.

"What's with you Triad lackeys?" she blurted. "First twelve toe-boy and now you; it's like someone picked you up at a freak show!"

"Shut up!" he shrieked, "I'm going to blow myself up!"

_'A suicide attack,'_ Korra thought numbly.

Mako lurched backwards, attempting to make a run for it, though he was so battered he knew he wasn't going to get far. But then Korra was suddenly beside him, one small hand on his shoulder.

"Give me your daggers," she ordered, her hand plunging into one of the pouches at his waist and withdrawing the last of his daggers.

She had never done anything like this before. She didn't want to actually touch Viper in case the contact set off the explosion, but the daggers were small, and there should be no pause between initial contact and death.

_If_ she got this right.

She'd seen people killed with just a few needles in the right places before; she knew it was possible. She knew all the spots, all the multitude of tiny targets she needed to hit and how many, she just needed to be very accurate. Her retinas burned from exhaustion but Korra didn't dare shield her eyes, already taking aim...

_'Come on, Korra, channel your inner Lin!'_

And then she let fly.

But she had no chance to see if she'd succeeded, because Mako's arm closed around her waist, yanking her almost painfully against him before she felt the sudden lurching sensation of a being swept off her feet.

* * *

"What the hell just happened?" Bolin asked, staring at the horizon where a flash of light had grown and then suddenly died, all within the space of a few moments.

"Let's find out," Tenzin commented, and he, Bolin and Jinora sprang into action, running for where they'd seen the flare.

* * *

"Where are we?" Korra whispered.

She didn't know where Mako had taken them, only that it was pitch black and that it smelled rather unappetizing. Spots of light were fading in and out of her vision, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness after such intense light.

She couldn't see Mako, but she could feel that both his arms were still tightly locked around her and her hands were resting against his bare chest, which seemed to be barely an inch in front of her face.

"We needed to seek shelter from the blast," came Mako's voice, sounding strained and weary. "I remember seeing a cave on the way."

"You really have a sick sense of fondness for dark, dank spaces Mako."

No response.

Korra thought that over for a moment. "Are you…hurt?"

Mako reflected that was typical Korra. They were inside an underground cave, the least favourite space for her to be in and she was worried more over him than herself.

"No," he said. "A few minor scratches but nothing major."

Korra could hear Mako's uneven breathing in the darkness, and she could feel each painful hitch through her hands. He was clearly badly injured and deeply exhausted; she was surprised he was still on his feet.

And even though it must have cost him a lot to do so, he had done his best to save her life.

Without really thinking about it, she began to channel her energy into Mako's body, trying to heal the worst of his injuries. She felt him twitch in surprise, before he relaxed under her ministrations.

It was the first time she'd healed him.

She didn't know why she'd chosen now to help Mako. Maybe because he needed it, maybe because she'd finally admitted to herself that she hadn't been able to cast him from her heart, maybe it was because he'd finally shown that there might be more of her old friend and teammate left than he would admit...

Whatever the reason, Korra had made her choice.

Mako stared down at Korra's face, lit by the soft glow of her energy, her features set in concentration. He could feel her energy flowing into his body, renewing him, soothing away the tingling aches and sharp pains gained in his battle with the Triad member.

He had never liked being healed by The Lieutenant. The Lieutenant's healing had always felt invasive and uncomfortable, like having a parasite worming it's way through his body, making his skin crawl even as it was repaired. But this was different. Korra's healing felt more akin to a warm hug on a winter's day; comforting and calming, a sensation he wanted to prolong rather than one he wanted to end.

Korra slowly decreased the amount of energy she was pouring into Mako's body. Most of his exhaustion was a result of energy depletion as opposed to actual injury, and there was nothing she could do to alleviate that. It only took her a few moments and a surprisingly small amount of energy to deal with the worst of his wounds. She was feeling rather tired, but she wasn't so much as dizzy, let alone feeling faint.

A lock of hair slid in front of her eyes, and Korra was about to blow it out of her face when Mako's slender fingers snagged the chocolate strands, tucking them behind her ear with a surprisingly gentle touch.

Her turquoise eyes flew to his face in shock, the dim glow of her energy making his features darkly shadowed and practically unreadable. She had almost convinced herself that Mako didn't mean anything by it, that the touch was completely innocent, when his hand drifted down her cheek, the pads of his calloused fingers stroking the curve of her jaw as the tip of his thumb just barely brushed the edge of her lower lip.

She didn't care how lacking in social skills Mako was, even he had to know that this was not an innocent touch.

The hand resting on the small of her back was exerting a slight pressure, just enough to urge her closer but not enough so that she couldn't have resisted. But Korra didn't; all higher brain function seemed to have been placed on a temporary halt, and she found herself closing the minuscule distance between them. The position of her hands on Mako's chest became uncomfortable, so she automatically slid them to his shoulders, resting almost against the nape of his neck, her energy still flickering between her fingers.

The hand on her face didn't move away, and didn't cease its slow exploration of the curve of her lip.

Mako had no concrete idea of what he was doing. He knew he was playing with fire, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Maybe it was his exhaustion, maybe it was the strange sensations her healing had produced in him...

Whatever the reason, Mako had made his choice.

He was about to dip his head and find out whether her lips were as soft as her skin when everything lurched unpleasantly around him and he collapsed to the ground.

* * *

Ghazan swore when he saw the flash of light at the rendezvous point. He ran as fast as he could to where Mako had told them to meet should anything go amiss.

At first, he wondered why Mako had chosen that particular spot as a rendezvous point; how was this meant to help? Before he could contemplate the answer to his own question, Korra emerged from within an underground lair, dragging a semi-conscious Mako with her.

Mako and Korra landed heavily on their knees, and Ghazan's sharp eyes didn't miss Mako's hand on Korra's lower back, clenched in the fabric of her shirt, nor Korra's grip on Mako's shoulders.

They struggled to their feet, Mako taking far longer than Korra, all the while pointedly avoiding each other's eyes.

And Ghazan knew something had happened between the pair. If nothing else, the sexual tension was so tangible that Ghazan got the feeling that if he tried to step between them he'd break his nose against it.

"You look pretty beat," Ghazan commented, noting the smears of dirt and blood decorating Mako's body and the dust caked into Korra's clothes. "Fight someone?"

Mako didn't answer, but rather made a vague gesture that neither confirmed nor denied Ghazan's question, before collapsing to his knees again.

Korra automatically clutched at his shoulders to steady him, and Ghazan noted that he made no move to shrug her off. In fact, the fire bender seemed almost disappointed when she withdrew her hands.

"Was there an explosion?" Mako asked.

Ghazan shook his head. "No, no explosion; there was just this really bright light that suddenly disappeared."

"But no explosion?"

"No explosion."

Korra laughed, a triumphant grin on her face. "See, I told you!"

Mako snorted, unwilling to admit he was rather impressed that Korra's trick with the daggers had worked.

And Ping and Viper had mentioned that she'd killed another Triple Threat Triad member. It seemed bewildering to think of Korra as being powerful enough to fell one of those gang members. He'd nearly died trying to defeat Viper.

"What'd you tell him, Princess?" Ghazan asked, breaking into Mako's train of thought.

Korra opened her mouth, but was cut off by shouts from behind them. All three turned to find Ming Hua and Zaheer coming towards at top speed.

"Hey," Korra said, giving them a wave.

Zaheer smiled at her, and Ming Hua ignored her.

"I fought a member of the Triple Threat," Mako said bluntly, cutting off any questions they might have. "He was stronger than I had anticipated."

"This is the man who beat Amon?" Ming Hua quipped.

Korra grinned a little, unable to help herself. It seemed Ming Hua wasn't as blinded by Mako as she'd originally thought.

"Amon was already weakened," Mako explained curtly.

"Well, as a healer, I can tell you you're not going anywhere fast for a while," Korra informed him. "If we want to find somewhere to rest up, I guarantee you'll feel better for it."

* * *

Korra leaned wearily against the wall of the small inn. While she wasn't totally drained, her healing of Mako, her desperate run, in both directions, and the long and slow trek to the inn meant that a nap certainly wouldn't go unappreciated.

It wouldn't go unappreciated for Mako, either, but he was apparently deciding to be stubborn. While he _was_ in a futon, he was sitting up and quite wide awake, currently interrogating the other members of the group.

At least she'd been able to change out of her dusty, sweaty clothes.

"Did anyone get any leads on Zolt?"

"You've got to be kidding!" Ming Hua scoffed. "You're half-dead and still trying to be a tough guy?"

"Korra healed me," Mako countered.

Korra rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I healed most of your physical injuries. I can't do anything about energy depletion, and that's what's got you so messed up. So take my advice and get some rest."

"_I'd_ take your advice, Princess," Ghazan purred. "You can play doctor with me anytime..."

Korra snorted out a half-laugh, but Mako's gaze narrowed and sharpened, un-amused by Ghazan's flirtatious tone.

"I heard plenty about the Triple Threats," Ghazan said, hastily getting back to the topic. There seemed to be an extra edge to Mako's glare this time, further cementing Ghazan's suspicion that something had happened between the fire bender and Korra. "But nothing about Zolt, specifically."

Mako's eyes flickered to Ming Hua, who shrugged passively.

"They're after people with special kinds of energy, from what I've heard," Ghazan continued.

"They're after Raava," Korra said bluntly. "You know, the Avatar spirit? So their hunting the people who serve as potential vessels for the Avatar spirit."

She bit back the rest of her sentence, _'That's why you have to let me go back to Republic City'_, knowing it probably wouldn't do anything to sway Mako's mind. He seemed adamant about keeping her with the rest of them, and now that she knew why, she was finding it very difficult to be angry with him.

"How do you know this?" Ming Hua asked, obviously suspicious.

Korra shrugged, "Just a hunch."

"From what the animals tell me, the Triple Threat have several bases that they operate out of," Zaheer commented, glancing at the bird perched on his shoulder. "They say that they feel strange, unpleasant chakra radiating from those places."

"Never would've guessed animals could sense energy," Ghazan snickered. "Although...'animal' describes Ming Hua pretty well, so I guess it makes sense..."

"Excuse me?!" Ming Hua screeched, delivering a sharp roundhouse kick to Ghazan's head, which he easily dodged.

Korra sighed, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes in an effort to block out the argument. The rustle of wings made her open her eyes again to find that the birds were flittering away from Zaheer, who had become strangely tense.

'_Not good…'_ she thought.

She wasn't the only one to notice. Mako watched Zaheer's expression become dark, knowing that the man was about to snap. He wasn't entirely sure if he could subdue him in his weakened state but Korra was far too close to the man, so his first priority was to get her out of the way...

"_Kill!_" came Zaheer's sudden bellow as he rose and lunged for the closest person to him; Korra.

Korra darted backwards, narrowly avoiding a blow that would have crushed her skull like a hollow eggshell. "Enough!" Mako shouted as the room sizzled. Mako locked eyes with Zaheer, the lightning at his fingertips crackling. He sent the jolt of electricity into Zaheer's pressure point with pin-point accuracy, rendering Zaheer paralyzed. The lightning receded, and Zaheer slumped to the floor with a stream of apologies. Korra glanced at Mako to find his eyes were closed, and his chin had dropped forward to rest on his chest. In fact, he even appeared to be snoring ever so slightly.

He was fast asleep.

"He's asleep?" Ming Hua asked, sounding incredulous.

"I knew that energy exertion would catch up with him," Korra muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

Maybe that would teach him to listen to her next time.

* * *

FINALLY! A new chapter for all you followers and faves out there. I can not stress to you how much much I've been wanting to update this story and some of my other stores. Oh man. I have been so insanely busy with university work and assessments and just life in general that I simply haven't had the time required to produce a worthy chapter (this in itself took about 5 hours and I'm still not too happy with it...). Anyway, I am alive and hope to be back for more regular updates soon. Review!


	14. Chapter 14

Cadence Chapter Fourteen: Captive

* * *

"Is this feeling any better?" Korra asked, her hands placed on either side of Zaheer's face as she struggled to keep the touch of her healing energy as light as possible.

She was trying to influence the hormonal balance of Zaheer's body. It sounded easy, but in practice was incredibly difficult. Hormones influenced so much of the body, rarely having just one effect, so she would only risk tipping the balance the slightest bit.

Not to mention, that the collar had decided to remind her of its existence in the form of the light, empty feeling curling behind her eyes.

"I feel _calmer_," the older man said, as though he couldn't quite believe it.

"That's only because Mako used his pin-point bending on you," Ming Hua sniped, as she prepared to leave the room on an errand. "It has nothing to do with her."

Korra ignored Ming Hua but Zaheer frowned at her, a shadow of anger flitting across his features. Korra was glad that some of Zaheer's usual spirit seemed to be returning; he had been so guilty about attacking her he'd barely been able to look her in the eye when she'd first approached him afterwards.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Ghazan asked Ming Hua rudely. "Somewhere that's not here?"

Ming Hua sneered and shut the door with a rather loud 'bang'. Korra privately thought it was a miracle the sound didn't wake Mako; his battle with Viper must have truly exhausted him.

"Do you feel anything other than more calm?" Korra queried, as though she and Zaheer hadn't been interrupted. "Headache? Nausea? Anything that spontaneously developed while I was working on you?"

Zaheer shook his head causing Korra to beam. "Excellent! I think we may be on the right track here, as far as 'curing' you goes. I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I could ever completely cure you, but I certainly might be able to help-"

Korra's words were cut off by a large yawn.

"You might want to take your own advice about that sleeping-thing, Princess," Ghazan commented. Then, with a flirtatious grin, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you'd look hot even with bags under your eyes-"

Korra snorted. Ghazan's playful interest in her was good for her ego, as opposed to the constant reminder of Mako's disinterest, though that little episode when she had been healing him made her think otherwise. Sure, Bolin did much the same thing, but nowadays it seemed to be an action of habit, as opposed to any real desire for her.

As always, thoughts of Republic City brought a painful twinge of homesickness, and Korra had to forcefully steer her mind elsewhere to keep her mood from plummeting.

"It's this stupid collar," she groused. "If this was off-"

"I'll have another go at it," Ghazan offered.

Korra slumped back against the wall behind her, sitting down and letting her head rest on it to allow him access to the lock that had frustrated him previously.

"Why don't you just try to cut it off?" Zaheer asked. "The leather is tough, and quite close to your skin, but as long as you were careful..."

Korra shook her head. "When I first got it, I wasn't going to risk cutting it off, I mean, I'm sure I wasn't the first slave to try to cut their collar off, so I thought it was a good bet that there was probably a nasty failsafe built in it somewhere that would do something to me if I tried to cut it off. And now that Mako has told me there's an electric current moving through it, I'd rather not risk it."

After all, she wasn't an idiot. Who knew what the current in the collar would do if the material it inhabited was suddenly severed? It could be perfectly harmless, or it could do something very _harmful,_ like blow up. And frankly, she wouldn't have put it past Amon to put some lethal trick into his slave collars.

She wouldn't risk cutting it off her neck. Picking the lock was far less likely to trigger any sort of negative reaction.

Zaheer frowned, and Ghazan ran his tongue over his lips in concentration as he inspected the lock. He didn't really hold out any hope of finding anything new but felt he should look all the same.

He jabbed at the lock with the tip of a dagger, unsurprised when something seemed to bar his way. Someone inexperienced in lock picking wouldn't realise what was happening, but Ghazan had opened enough forbidden doors to know that the tip of the blade wasn't sliding in far enough to contact the tumblers.

Something was preventing it.

He tried to angle his head to see into the lock, in case he could pinpoint exactly what was causing the problem. Maybe a small rock or piece of dirt had slipped inside it during Korra's travels...

But he saw nothing; the lock was too small to really get a good view inside. He was about to ask Korrato move closer to the window and therefore the light, when Zaheer spoke softly.

"She's asleep."

At first, Ghazan thought he was talking about one of the birds that had re-alighted on the windowsill. It was only when he raised his head and glimpsed Korra's closed eyes that he realised the blonde had been talking about Korra.

It said a lot about how exhausted Korra was that she had fallen asleep within a few minutes of leaning up against the wall. And watching her work on Zaheer, Ghazan would never have guessed she'd felt the slightest bit tired.

"Should we move her?" Zaheer asked tentatively. "She doesn't look comfortable..."

"Yeah, but we better be careful. Princess _is_ the Avatar, remember? We don't want to startle her awake and have our heads taken off."

In the end, they decided against moving Korra to a horizontal position, something told Ghazan she wouldn't remain unconscious for that big of a shift in her environment, so he and Zaheer slowly, carefully, edged her a foot or so along the wall and into the corner.

Korra stirred as her head came to rest in the small cradle provided by the juncture of the two walls, just as Zaheer was carefully shifting her legs into place.

"If you're groping me, Bolin, I'll break your arm," she threatened sleepily, her brief moment of coherency only registering hands moving her legs.

"You know, Princess, some guys might consider that a price they'd be willing to pay," Ghazan drawled, but she had drifted into sleep again.

Zaheer regarded her for a moment, as though he was a photographer trying for a perfect shot.

"Not finished with your masterpiece?" Ghazan remarked.

Zaheer ignored him, pulling a blanket from the closet and draping it over Korra, tucking it around her to ensure she'd be warm.

Only then did he resume his seat by the window with the birds.

* * *

Bolin darted through the trees, finally bursting into a tiny clearing several feet ahead of Tenzin and Jinora to find the others standing grouped around a body. A very familiar body.

Bolin gaped as he recognised Viper of the Triple Threat Triad, his body pale and stiff, showing the first stages of pallor mortis and with several daggers driven through his neck.

"What happened here?" he demanded.

"Looks like everyone else noticed the flash as well," Tenzin commented as he drew alongside the brunette boy.

"Mako and Korra were right here until a moment ago; we managed to track them," someone from behind Bolin said. "There are still traces of them left, along with several others."

"So, does that mean Korra's around here somewhere?" Bolin asked desperately.

"Well, the spattering of other foot prints suggests that Mako has other companions besides Korra," Lin said. "We'd follow the trail farther, but it ends here."

"Here?" Bolin glanced wildly around at the trees, as if expecting Mako and Korra to step out from behind one of them at any moment.

"So it's likely that they escaped fairly quickly preceding the battle," Tenzin mused, glancing around at the broken branches and scraped bark on some of the trees, "but seeing as there are no other bodies besides Viper's, that seems to suggest that Mako and Korra survived their encounter. In fact, the evidence suggests that the killing blow was dealt by Korra," he finished off grimly.

Bolin glanced down at the body.

"Daggers," Tenzin explained. "Targeted to very precise pressure points; pressure points a healer would know well."

Bolin nodded absently. At least it seemed that Mako and Korra were alright.

He knew Tenzin, Lin and even Master Katara seemed to think there was something to those rumours about Mako raping Korra, but Bolin refused to believe it. He couldn't; Mako was still Mako, deep down, which meant he wouldn't do anything like _that_, especially not to Korra.

"I've got something!" Jinora suddenly declared.

Everyone turned to her.

"Nowadays, my spirit projection is better than it's ever been," she grinned. "I've found Mako and Korra."

Lin raised an eyebrow, impressed in spite of herself.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bolin said. "Lead the way!"

"Wait!" Tenzin barked. "What about the body?"

Lin considered it. It was true that many things could be learned by examining a bender's corpse, but they had been sent on a rescue mission, not to gather intelligence. And if they took Viper's body with them, they would surely be subjected to Triple Threat attacks as the gang tried to claim the corpse so they could bury it.

"We leave it here," he ordered. "Korra is our priority."

* * *

"Do you think she's alright?" Zaheer asked, his eyes on Korra, who was still dozing against the wall. "She's been sleeping for a while...

"I'm sure Princess is fine," Ghazan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just kinda worn out. Mako hasn't woken up yet either."

The fire bender was still dead to the world as well, slumbering peacefully in his futon.

That was the case, until the door was kicked down by Ming Hua. "Mako, wake up; we're being followed!"

Korra jerked out of her sleep with a loud, inelegant snort, and Mako blinked awake.

"Who's following us?" Korra asked, putting aside her confusion about how she'd ended up in the corner with a blanket over her. "The Triple Threat?"

"We leave now," Mako ordered, his voice firm as he rose. "Get everything ready. Zaheer, grab the map

and mark the location of every Triad hideout you learned about."

"Who's following us?" Korra repeated.

Mako glanced at Ming Hua, his eyes ordering her to answer.

"It's either the Triple Threat or members of the Republic City Police Force," she said at last.

"Republic City Police Force..." A small, incredulous joy began to build behind Korra's chest. "Then you can let me go!"

Mako turned to her. "What was that?"

"You can let me go!" she insisted.

"No, I can't!" he said shortly. "We cannot be sure who it is that's following us."

Ming Hua, apparently seeing an opportunity to get rid of the other female member of their little group, chimed in with, "There were several of them, benders too, if that helps."

"That has to be the Police Force!" Korra exclaimed.

Mako was silent.

"Come on; if you just let me stay here, they'll catch up and I can go with them."

Mako knew that this was presenting a perfect solution to his dilemma, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to grasp it. He had become accustomed to Korra's presence, liked having her as company.

And he couldn't forget the picture she'd made when they were seeking shelter sheltering in the cave earlier, lit only by the faint glow of her energy as she healed him, her eyes large and deep when she looked up at him, lips slightly parted...

Having Korra around upset the careful balance within himself he had built over the year of defection. Her presence, her laughter, her warmth, they all threatened to disturb his resolve because everything she did only drew his mind from killing Zolt, made him wish he was someone else, anyone else.

Someone who didn't have a near-impossible obstacle in his path, one that would likely take his life.

But if he let her go it would all be over. He could return to what he was, focusing on Zolt's demise to the exclusion of all else...

But what if he didn't want to let her go? What if he'd come to like this?

"We cannot be sure," he repeated. "You will remain with me."

Ghazan didn't think it was accidental that Mako had said 'me' instead of 'us'.

"But she can't do anything," Ming Hua argued. "Her healing is mediocre at best-"

"Enough!" Mako snarled. "We leave now, that includes you, Korra."

Korra stared at him, feeling her chest constrict with pain. After his confession as to his reason for taking her with him, and that episode inside the cave, she had thought they were growing a little closer. That maybe he respected her enough to trust that she could take care of herself, even with the collar on.

But apparently, that wasn't the case. And now she felt foolish for even considering the possibility that

Mako might see her as anything more than a weak tag-along.

She turned away, gritting her teeth against the threatening sting of tears. She'd cried enough over Mako.

She had returned to help him during his battle with Viper, yes, but that was different. She hadn't known if he was injured or not, he had been in need of help, but now, he was on his feet again, and perfectly capable of getting along fine without her. For Spirits sake, now that he knew how difficult it was to take down a member of the Triple Threat, she would have thought he'd understand just how strong she'd become!

But apparently not. And the disappointment was almost more than she could bear.

Zaheer moved to her side, resting one huge hand on her shoulder in sympathy. Korra grasped his hand in her own, smiling gratefully up at him, and something hard and cold lodged in Mako's gut. Zaheer lifted his eyes to meet Mako's, and the fire bender found himself tensing automatically. Zaheer was very fond of Korra, it was entirely possible he might forgo his previous friendship with P'Li and actually attack Mako if he thought he was causing Korra distress.

But the moment dragged on without any action being taken, and at last Zaheer bent down to speak to Korra again. "You should be cautious, Korra. If there is truly no way to tell who is pursuing us..."

"Yeah," the medic sighed, but Mako could tell that she was only feinting agreement so she wouldn't hurt Zaheer's feelings.

"You seem pretty much recovered," Ghazan remarked to Mako as they left the room.

Mako nodded.

Of course, he owed it all to Korra's healing.

Korra trailed out behind them, struggling not to show how depressed she truly felt. For a moment or two, she considered flatly refusing to go anywhere, but she didn't want to push Mako too far. He had once threatened to knock her out in order to bring her along with him, and seeing as he seemed to have scrapped whatever tentative connection they'd been building lately, she didn't think he'd hesitate to do so. As long as she remained conscious, there was a chance she could escape.

And seeing as her friends were nearby, she didn't even have to evade Mako and company all the way back to Republic City; just long enough for her to find her friends.

"For now, we'll follow up on what Zaheer has informed us of," Mako was saying. "We'll head to various Triad hideouts."

The others nodded, except for Korra, and stepped forward. Ming Hua's hand shot out, seizing Zaheer's shoulder and bringing the larger man to a halt.

"Do you think you could help me out?" she asked in a low voice.

"With what?"

"I have the shirt that Mako was wearing," she said, brandishing the said shirt that was soaked in sweat and blood.

"Why do you have Mako's torn up clothes?" Zaheer asked, nothing but bland curiosity in his

tone.

"Never mind why!" she hissed. "Republic City Police tend to make good use of trackers; we can use this to throw them off our trail, except I don't have anything of Korra's."

"You want me to ask her for something?" Zaheer queried, sounding as though he was getting angry.

"We need a diversion, something to get them off our tails," Ming Hua wheedled. "After all, we assume it's Republic City Police, but we don't know for sure, do we? It could be The Triple Threat, after Mako and Korra because they were involved in the death of one of their elite members. You don't want The Triple Threat following Korra, do you?"

Zaheer frowned, appearing to debate the matter over in his mind. Then, his decision obviously reached, he stepped up his pace, catching up with the others in front of them. He spoke with Korra, though Ming Hua couldn't hear what they were saying, she could see Zaheer's lips moving. Korra gave a small, sad smile and shrugged the small pack she was carrying from her back, passing it to Zaheer without qualm.

Zaheer then slowly dropped back until he was level with Ming Hua once more.

"What did you do?" she asked.

Zaheer was looking a little guilty. "I just said she was looking tired, so if she wanted, I could carry her pack for her."

_'Stupid girl,' _Ming Hua thought scornfully. _'Far too trusting...'_

Zaheer unfastened Korra's pack, drawing out a small bundle of dusty, sweat-streaked clothes. The clothes Korra had been wearing earlier that day, before she swapped them for the clean set she was wearing now.

"Bingo," Ming Hua smirked.

"Should we divide up our belongings as well?" Zaheer asked.

"I don't think that's necessary," Ming Hua said, giving him Mako's shirt and taking Korra's in her own hands. "If it's Republic City tracking us, they'll only be after Mako and Korra. I doubt they even know we exist. And if it's the Triple Threat, the same applies, after all, they are the only two among us who've had any contact with the Triple Threat, so they're the only ones they're interested in. Now toss Korra's shirt away!"

* * *

"We've got a problem!" Jinora called. "Mako and Korra are on the move and it seems they're not alone; whoever they're with just scattered in all directions."

"They must have come up with a plan to throw us off the trail," Lin commented.

"But how could they have known we were on their trail in the first place?" Ikki asked.

"My guess would be whoever Mako is with is extremely talented at sensing energy," the silver-haired woman replied.

"Then let's search all directions, we split up!" Bolin proclaimed.

Lin was about to rebuff Bolin's suggest, but before she had a chance, he was off into the thick forest before them. She sighed in exasperation but gave the signal for the other members of the rescue team to follow in Bolin's direction; one of them was sure to intercept their missing Avatar and her keeper.

* * *

Korra was quiet, and Mako told himself he wasn't bothered by it. The group had stopped in a small clearing, close to where one of the Triad bases was said to be.

Korra had yet to speak to him. She hadn't even glanced in his direction. If she had been furious, he could have brushed it off and simply waited for her to cool down. If she had tried to escape, he could have stopped her, but this bleak aura, as though she were deeply hurt but trying not to give into it, was something he simply didn't know how to deal with. He didn't want to see her miserable.

They'd traveled like this for barely forty-five minutes, and already Mako was feeling a desperate need to somehow make things better.

He wanted to see her smile again, really smile, even if it was only at either Ghazan or Zaheer. He wanted see that fiery spirit of hers again, even if it was only glimpsed in flashes when she scowled at him.

Her attacks he had been able to counter. Her biting remarks he had largely ignored. Korra's anger; he had been able to deal with.

But this, this quiet sadness was forcing him to realise how much he was hurting Korra by denying her her freedom.

But what could he do?

_'You know what you can do...'_ came the voice from the depths of his mind. _'You can let her go. There are no more excuses you can make; you _know_ it's the Police Force behind you, not The Triple Threat. Korra isn't here because you _need_ her here; she is here because you _want_ her here. But have you ever once stopped to consider what _she_ wants?'_

"Korra, come with me," Mako blurted suddenly. "The rest of you; stay here."

Korra clenched her jaw and begrudgingly obeyed his command, determined to act as though Mako was nothing but her keeper. From this moment on, she would owe him no loyalty, no devotion; nothing.

She had been smothering her sorrow for so long, choosing instead to focus on her anger, that when this blow was dealt she had found herself practically swept away in a sudden onslaught of depression. She was sure she had worried Zaheer, and most likely Ghazan as well, with her despondent behaviour, but she had been struggling to deal with the death of the hope that maybe, just maybe, Mako really could be dragged out of the deep, dark hole that he had fallen into.

If he had let her go, it would have proved that the Mako she once knew wasn't completely lost to the Mako that stood before her.

But he hadn't. Korra sighed and then shook her head firmly, telling herself to Avatar up and get out of this slump. Sure, it hurt, but she just had to get over it; after all, she'd dealt with Mako's defection, hadn't she? She could certainly deal with this.

Mako, for his part, was coming to terms with his prior revelation. It was rather stunning to realise that he hadn't brought Korra along with him because he was concerned about her safety, though he was in part, he'd brought along mainly because he didn't want to be without her again. He wanted her with him, so he took her, with no regard for her feelings on the matter whatsoever.

He was starting to realise that when it came to Korra, frighteningly little of his interaction with her had been done with her feelings paramount in his mind. He'd always been selfish when it came to Korra, so he would be generous this time. She wanted her freedom, and even though he didn't want to see her go, he would give it to her.

They found the cave that served as the entrance to the Triad base, and Mako entered, turning down one of the tunnels, just enough so that he was hidden from any passers by, but not far in to be without a way of escape, should they need one.

"What's going on?" Korra asked quietly when he turned to face her.

The dim light of the cave threw Mako's mind back to when they'd hidden in cave earlier, more specifically to the moment when he'd been consumed with the idea of kissing her.

If he was going to let her go, couldn't he be selfish just one more time?

Acting upon this notion, he approached her slowly until he was barely an inch away from her.

Anyone else would have been intimidated by his advance, uncomfortable with his proximity, but even now, after all he had done to her, Korra's eyes showed nothing but mild puzzlement at his actions.

Korra stared up at Mako, unable to decipher his motives for doing so. If he expected to frighten her into cooperation, explaining why he'd left the rest of the gang behind, then he was going to be sadly disappointed.

He was making no move to intimidate her, however. On the contrary, the hand that traced the side of her face before falling away again brought back memories of their stolen moment from within their temporary shelter.

_'What is he playing at?'_ she wondered.

Before she could ponder any further, Mako stepped forward, closing the last particle of distance between them, dropped his face towards hers, and kissed her.

To say Korra was surprised would be a gross understatement. Her whole body froze, her turquoise eyes staring blindly at Mako's closed lids.

Part of Korra's mind, the part that was still functioning, could admit that when she had thought of

Mako kissing her, which had happened more often that she liked to admit since she had healed him, she had imagined he would probably be forceful, maybe even a bit rough. It would have made sense for Mako to approach a kiss like it was some form of combat.

But instead, he was achingly gentle. His mouth rested only lightly against hers, and he made no move to deepen the kiss. He made no attempt to hold her in the kiss, their lips were their only point of contact, his arms hanging limp at his sides. Korra's arms weren't moving either, but that was mainly out of shock.

He stepped back before she could respond, his eyes opening once more. And it might have Korra's imagination, but she could have sworn his face was that of remorse.

"You're free to go," Mako said quietly, looking away from her.

Korra gaped at him, certain she'd misheard. "What?"

"You're free to go," he repeated, sounding as though the words pained him.

He looked like he would have said something more, instead he tensed suddenly, turning his neck slowly to gaze past Korra.

Korra guessed that he'd sensed something. "Is there someone there?" she asked, all business. She was the Avatar, after all and kisses out of nowhere from teenage crushes you never really stopped loving could be pushed aside in favour of focusing on immediate threats.

Mako didn't answer, too focused in staring into the dim cave. "Who's there?"

A dark figure moved, lifting its head, revealing amber eyes, much like Mako's.

"Hello, Mako."

Zolt was standing in front of them.

Korra sucked in her breath sharply, and beside her, she saw Mako become so tense it was a wonder his bones didn't snap beneath the force his muscles were exerting.

"You're not going to rush in screaming at me like last time?" Zolt commented.

Mako smirked, cold fury in every line of his face. "This won't be like last time."

Once again, the younger fire bender moved too fast for Korra to track with her eyes. In the space of a moment, he was behind Zolt, aiming to pierce the elder with his lightning fused daggers, hoping to use the solid electricity to cleave into Zolt's vital points while at the same time burn his flesh. Mako however, missed his opportunity to do so as Zolt used his fire bending to push off from the ground, creating just enough space between him and Mako's daggers.

"You have become strong," Zolt murmured, his voice low but perfectly audible within the cave.

"He's close," Korra whispered.

Mako seemed to think so too; he was starting to move deeper into the cave. Korra made to follow him when she suddenly felt her right wrist was seized and twisted up across her body, forcing her against a hard, lean chest. The razor edge of a small dagger pricked the skin of her throat, resting so close to the jugular vein that she could feel each individual beat of her pulse beat against the blade.

She wrapped her left hand around the arm that held the weapon, automatically trying to tug it away from her neck even as she drew breath to scream...

"One move, one sound, and I will kill you," came Zolt's voice, right next to her ear.

Korra froze.

Zolt didn't like what he was about do, but felt it was necessary. Korra had a strange hold on Mako, if the Avatar remained with Mako, Zolt was certain everything would go as it was meant to. At first, he had resented the extra variables she brought into his plan, but now he was certain that Korra had to remain with Mako at all costs.

He had intended to just deliver his challenge to Mako and leave, but when he realised that Mako was preparing to farewell the girl, he knew he had to step in.

What he had planned now would not only ensure Korra was with Mako when he killed him, but would also serve to increase the younger fire bender's thirst for his blood.

"Mako," he stated quietly.

Mako spun around, and if Zolt had any doubts as to the younger man's feelings for Korra, they were swatted away in the emotions that flooded Mako's eyes when he saw her held hostage.

It was only for a moment, just a moment before his usual mask of anger and hatred slid back into place, but that small moment had been enough. The depth of horror and blind panic in Mako's eyes in that instant spoke quite eloquently of just how much he valued the young Avatar.

"If you move, she dies," Zolt said quietly.

Something in Mako had frozen the moment he had turned around to see Korra in Zolt's grasp, a dagger held against her neck. He clenched his fists against the urge to fly to her aid, not wanting to provoke Zolt into carrying out his threat.

Blood squelched up between his fingers, but Mako was oblivious to the pain. All his attention, all his focus, went to the two figures in front of him.

His urge to use his fire bending pulsed through him; it often responded to anger and hatred, especially in the intensity Mako was feeling them now. Mako grit his teeth and attempted to push it back, but his normally flawless control of his emotions was wavering, his usual iron restraint under attack by something primal and violent that screamed for him to tear Zolt apart and to retrieve Korra.

"Mako..."

Korra's voice reached his ears; soft and concerned, with the slightest sour tinge of fear, and

Mako clung to it, staring into iridescent turquoise eyes as though they could anchor him to sanity.

And miraculously, they did.

As they had done so on multiple occasions in the past, his angers hold on him ebbed beneath her gaze, shrinking back to its quiescent state, her simple plea restoring him to himself so quickly it was shocking.

Zolt watched the younger man gain control of himself, as though all his pent up anger was somehow shut down by the sound of Korra's voice, and something in him marveled.

But he couldn't focus on that now.

"Come alone to the Triad Head Quarters," Zolt instructed. "We will settle things there."

Mako slowly nodded. He'd never imagined Zolt might issue a challenge to him, in all the scenarios he'd accounted for, it had always been him tracking down Zolt and forcing the confrontation.

"And it would probably be better for Korra if you hurry."

_'What?'_

Then both Zolt and Korra vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"_NO!_" The shout was torn from Mako's throat. He rushed forward, reaching futilely for where Korra had been, but his hand ended up hitting the unyielding cave wall.

For a moment, Mako was frozen, staring at the empty space that had so recently been occupied by a chocolate-haired woman, not wanting to believe what every one of his senses was telling him.

Zolt had taken Korra.

Something hard, sharp and hot rose in his throat like bile. He was somehow more furious than he thought he'd ever been in his life and at the same time, almost nauseous with horror at what had just happened.

_Zolt had taken Korra._

* * *

Eeeeeeeeee! And there you have it; the plot thickens and our Avatar is now a damsel in distress (although not really)! This chapter took ages to fix up and get uploaded so I apologise if it's a little shitty. Anywho, hope you enjoy it!


	15. Chapter 15

Cadence Chapter Fifteen: Deception

* * *

Mako stared numbly at the spot where Korra and Zolt had been standing.

_'You fool!'_ he berated himself. _'You shouldn't have kissed her; that's why he took her! He saw it and now he knows what she means to you!'_

Mako dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, as though if he pressed hard enough, he could erase the image of Korra's frightened face as Zolt snatched her away.

He instinctively began to think of ways to get to the Triad head quarters in the least amount of time, but he stopped himself in his own tracks. He and the others were nowhere near the location of the Head Quarters, and if they were to rush, Mako would be exhausted. And if he were to face Zolt while low on energy…

Mako knew what would happen. He'd lose, and Korra would be at Zolt's mercy.

He'd have to get to the Head Quarters at a paced, but efficient speed. Zolt may be willing to squander stamina on making his way to Head Quarters quickly, but Mako wasn't about to take the risk; there was too much at stake.

"Hey, Mako!" came Ghazan's voice from behind him. "Ming Hua sensed someone else's presence- Wait a second; where's Princess?"

"He took her!" Mako barely recognised his voice; it was low and guttural, sounding more animal then human. "Zolt took Korra!"

Mako knew, logically, that he should slow down. Zolt had issued the challenge, so he would presumably be willing to wait for some time. He knew he could rest and restore his energy, be truly prepared for the confrontation...

But in the meantime, Zolt had Korra. And Mako wasn't leaving her in the hands of the older fire bender for one moment longer than he had to. The thought of Korra at Zolt's mercy made him feel nauseated.

_'He won't kill her,'_ he told himself repeatedly in an effort to calm the wild, erratic pounding of his heart that had nothing to do with the frantic pace he had set. _'If he wanted her dead, he would have killed her without a moment's hesitation. He wants her alive, he'll keep her alive...'_

But that did little to silence the forbidding whispers of how spirited Korra was, of how much defiance she would show Zolt and what the Triad member might do to subdue her. If she challenged Zolt's power, what would he sentence her to in order to imprint that power upon her?

_'He wants her alive, he wants her alive...'_

Of course, those thoughts begged the question of exactly what Zolt wanted Korra alive for. If the

Triad were really after Raava and Vaatu did that mean Zolt was even now torturing her for information on potential vessels?

Mako put an extra edge on his already extraordinary speed. He knew he was forcing the others to labour in order to keep up, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

"There's people following us," Ming Hua panted.

"It's the Republic City Police force," Mako stated. Bolin was, no doubt, among the party that was tracking them. But then again, he should have expected nothing less. "We keep going!" he barked.

If they ran into those tracking them, then they'd deal with it. Mako knew how advantageous it would be to have the Republic Police Force follow them to the Triad HQ; a retinue of Police Force Personnel, benders and non-benders alike, would ensure Korra was freed and escorted back to Republic City in safety.

Regardless of all that, Korra needed him and every second wasted was another second she spent in Zolt's grasp. Mako found himself automatically beginning to urge himself to move faster.

'_No! If you are drained when you face him he will kill you!' _Mako had to grit his teeth against the urge to scream the words, dredging up the iron-clad self-discipline that he had forged all throughout the long years of training to protect those important to him.

But whenever he thought of Korra in the hands of Zolt, he could practically feel his self-discipline splintering apart.

And beneath his fury and worry, guilt churned like bitter acid in his stomach. If he had allowed her to leave when staying at the inn, when he _should_ have, none of this would ever have happened...

The sound of the rumbling Earth came from up ahead, and Mako welcomed the distraction from his increasingly-dark thoughts of what Korra might already be enduring. The splotch of brown resolved itself into a messy mop of brown hair that was attached to a very familiar face.

Bolin.

"Mako!" Bolin yelled.

Mako didn't slow his pace for even a moment. Ignoring the shout of his name, Mako continued onwards to his destination. Internally, Mako grimaced; while it would have been useful to have Bolin along to safeguard Korra, he wasn't about to diverge from his headlong flight. He and his team would have to be enough.

Though the group was rapidly tiring of his punishing pace. He had expected some form of complaint, but all three had made no protest.

Zaheer was silent, as he often was, but his face was wearing an expression fiercer than any that Mako had ever seen on him outside of his occasional outbursts. Ghazan, who would usually have been whining for a rest by now, hadn't made one complaint, the only expression on his features one of grim determination.

And Ming Hua...well, she probably just sensed he wasn't in the mood to hear any objections.

They were going to the Triad HQ, and they were going there as fast as they possibly could.

* * *

"I've found him!" Bolin called as the rest of the small rescue team caught up with him. "Follow me – I think there's a problem!"

"Why would you say that?" Lin asked, running level with him.

"Because Korra wasn't with them," the young Earth bender practically growled. "There was Mako and three other people, but Korra was nowhere to be seen!"

"So they split up?" Tenzin offered. "Korra escaped?"

"My bro was looking pretty damn worried," Bolin commented.

He doubted anyone else would have seen it. Mako was so expressionless most of the time, it made him very hard to read but once you learned how, a wealth of information could be conveyed by the slightest shift in his facial muscles.

And Bolin could tell that Mako had practically been screaming.

* * *

_'This has got to be some sort of record,'_ a small, lucid and strangely calm corner of Korra's mind remarked. _'This is what, my _third_ consecutive kidnapping? First the Equalists, then Mako, and now Zolt! Just one of the perks of being the Avatar, I guess.'_

The rest of her mind was busy trying to come up with some sort of game plan.

Zolt had released her as soon as they'd arrived at the Triad HQ, and Korra had found herself in a large stone chamber. Several steps lead to a raised portion of the floor in which a large stone chair rested, like a throne. The Triad insignia was carved on the walls. The room was particularly plain, however Korra found it odd that the room seemed to be crumbling; the walls and floor were all chipped and cracked, pitted with large holes in some places.

Zolt was in front of her, surveying her with interest, a good distance between their bodies. He had made no effort to bind or restrain her, as though his presence was enough to hold her captive.

And he might be right about that, Korra could admit. He'd just travelled across a staggering distance with her in tow and he didn't look the slightest bit fatigued. She shuddered at the thought of how powerful Zolt truly was.

Korra's eyes darted towards the room's entrance, and she wondered if there was any way she could possibly move fast enough to reach it before he did.

"I will advise you now against trying to escape," Zolt said, his tone even but somehow conveying a thousand threats.

He stepped forward, and Korra stepped back, automatically trying to keep several feet between her and the mass-murderer.

But she hadn't taken two steps before she felt cool stone against her back. Zolt's advance didn't halt in the slightest and Korra felt fear tickle at the back of her mind, reminding her that she was standing in front of _Zolt_, without her bending, a weapon and unable to throw even a single energy-enhanced punch.

The Fire bender halted when he was perhaps six inches in front of her and Korra looked down, automatically avoiding his eyes. He didn't say anything, he didn't move, and Korra had the feeling she was being studied like a specimen in a petri dish.

Korra couldn't deny that she was intimidated by Zolt's presence. But she refused to give in to her fear, setting her jaw and squaring her shoulders. It took more than a little invasion of personal space to subdue her!

Zolt considered the woman before him carefully. He had never passed up an opportunity to deepen Mako's hatred of him and he knew he had a rich, untapped mine of opportunity in front of him. The hatred and anger over the death of his family had been given Mako many years to cool his anger, to become smoldering, calculated resentment instead of the wild inferno that it once was.

Korra represented a perfect opportunity to fan those flames once again; in spite of his protests, it was obvious Mako cared deeply for her.

Zolt would not kill her, as Korra was necessary at a later stage, but what else could he do?

He considered the woman before him, noting the collar that encircled her neck, and found himself wondering what Mako would do if he raped her.

The idea was distasteful, and if he did it she would undoubtedly be traumatised; she wouldn't want Mako to so much as lay a finger upon her mocha skin...

On the other hand, he didn't need to _actually_ rape her; he just needed to make Mako _believe_ that he'd raped her.

"I will apologise in advance for what I am about to do," Zolt intoned. "But it is necessary."

Korra blinked, startled by his regretful tone, and fought the urge to look at his face.

Korra was unable to hold in a screech of shock and pain when Zolt abruptly seized her shirt and, putting his strength into it, literally tore the clothing from her body. The tattered material fell to the ground, leaving her binding exposed, and Korra struck out at Zolt, trying to put some space between them.

"I am not going to rape you," he snapped, catching her wrist and slamming it painfully back against the wall. "I only need to create the illusion of it."

"For what; Mako?" Korra spat, struggling against his hold. "I don't think he'll care what you do to me; I'm just an annoyance to him!"

Even she knew that wasn't strictly true, that kiss had to have meant _something_, right?

"Annoyance?" Zolt mused, his voice mild. "I think not, you are much more to Mako than just an annoyance."

Korra remained silent, writhing mutinously in his hold, and yet at the same time unwilling to outright attack him in case that provoked something worse. The tension in the air was making her chest ache, and she wished she still had her shirt on.

"There are many things in Mako's life that provoke his rage, his hatred, but I have never seen anything that calmed him. Until today. He controlled himself, for you."

Zolt was perfectly honest in his assessment of Mako. He had seen firsthand how easily Mako could be driven to rage but he had never seen anything capable of checking Mako's fury. At a word from Korra, he controlled himself. For her, he stayed his hand when he would otherwise lash out.

"No matter what he might say otherwise, Mako will go to great lengths to ensure your safety."

With that, he reached out and snagged at her bindings, pulling at it, causing a red welt to surface on her skin. Korra snarled and raised her knee, trying to catch him in the groin, but Zolt released her wrist and stepped back, out of her immediate range.

"Are you going to be difficult?" he asked, not sounding as if he cared one way or the other.

"What the hell do you think?" Korra exploded, one hand clutching at her chest so she wouldn't be exposed.

She had no idea what possible motive Zolt would have for trying to make it appear as if he'd raped her, but she knew that it wouldn't be to Mako's benefit. Her eyes remained locked on his feet, trying to predict his next move, however was caught by surprise when his feet suddenly disappeared from her view.

The next thing she knew, she had been spun around and shoved face first into the wall. The rough stone scraped against her cheek, and she winced as she felt the skin part. Zolt's body was against her own, a solid pressure keeping her pinned neatly against the wall.

A hand slid over her hips, unbuckling her belt and deliberately snapping the metal tongue off. Korra heard it ping against the floor when it fell. Her pants fell to rest precariously low on her hips, slipping down to puddle at her ankles when Zolt ripped away the button that fastened them closed.

Korra tried to kick backwards, but the cloth fouled her legs. She swore viciously into the wall as she jerked an elbow backwards and upwards. She connected with solid flesh and was rewarded with a soft hiss of displeasure. Zolt's grip on her loosened and Korra pushed away from the wall, trying to gain enough room to turn around in...

Zolt's hand had fisted in Korra's hair, driving her forward in retaliation. Korra's head cracked against the stone, stunning her. The momentary laxness of her body allowed Zolt the opening he needed to seize both her wrists in one of his hands, pushing them against the wall to nail her in place.

Her blow had split his lip, but he was actually pleased by that. Zolt knew if this charade was to be believable, he had to have marks on him as well; Korra would not have submitted tamely to him.

She seemed to have recovered from the blow to her head and was now writhing and twisting against him once more, her hands spasming in his. An energy scalpel flickered to life between her fingers and Zolt tightened his grip; he couldn't give her an opportunity to slip free and wield it.

His free hand dropped to her breast and squeezed viciously. Korra yelped but Zolt paid it no mind, releasing her when he was certain she was bruising, only to drop his hand to her inner thigh and apply similar pressure there.

Korra had the feeling she should have been much more frightened by the hand that was roaming her body than she actually was. But Zolt had said himself that he wasn't going to rape her, and Korra saw no reason to disbelieve him; why would he lie? The fingers that were biting into her flesh seemed cold and distant; there was no hunger behind them, no desire to prove his power, no need to subjugate and dominate her.

This assault was nothing but a deliberate, calculated attempt to produce a myriad of bruises on her that would make it look like she had been violated.

But that didn't mean she'd take it lying down. Since she couldn't kick back at him, Korra settled for shifting her foot backwards and digging her heel into his instep. Zolt's grip loosened in a reflex to pain, and Korra yanked her arms down, her energy scalpel parting the flesh of her captor's palm.

Zolt stepped backwards rapidly as Korra spun around. He moved far enough to be out of the range of debilitating injuries, but he deliberately held himself in place so her extended energy scalpel could make a clean, shallow cut along his collarbone.

Then he moved with the speed he was known for, knocked her hands aside and seized her wrists again, pushing her harshly against the wall behind her.

Zolt surveyed her with a critical eye, like an artist considering the finishing touches to a painting. She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly ravished. Her clothes lay in tatters at her feet, there was a sluggishly bleeding wound on her head that oozed crimson into her chocolate locks, her underclothes were dirtied and crumpled, and he'd made sure that the bruises adorning her body were concentrated on her arms, hips, thighs and breasts.

Korra was panting slightly with the effort of struggling against him, and when he dipped his head and deliberately bit her collarbone, she gritted her teeth against a reflexive yelp and bucked against him, trying to kick her pants off over her boots so she'd be free to strike out at him with her legs.

He tightened his hold on her wrists and bit her once more, this time on the soft skin of her neck above the collar, drawing blood.

Korra let out an animalistic snarl and twisted against him. One of his hands loosened, and Korra swiftly slammed a fist into his face. Zolt's head snapped back, but the hand that still held her wrist twisted violently, and Korra found herself thrown harshly to the ground.

Zolt planted a foot on her neck to keep her down, satisfied by the sluggishly bleeding indents of his teeth in her skin, and pleased at the throbbing ache that had taken up residence in his jaw. He was sure that by now he looked bruised enough to give the illusion that he'd had to struggle violently with Korra.

Korra coughed against the pressure on her throat, her hands gripping Zolt's ankle, trying to get enough leverage for a violent twist that would force him off her. She had never resented the collar more; if it wasn't a factor, she could have broken his leg like a toothpick.

He released her abruptly, as though he had come to some sort of decision, and Korra scrambled backwards and upright, kicking away the pants that tangled her ankles.

Of course, this left her in nothing but her underwear, but Korra had bigger problems than a little embarrassment. She pressed herself against the stone, her eyes darting to the doorway, toying with the idea of escaping but at the same time, she knew she didn't stand a chance and she didn't want to invite Zolt into close physical contact again.

Zolt wondered how to incapacitate the woman in front of him. She couldn't be allowed to interfere, but at the same time, he needed her conscious, as a witness to corroborate Mako's story.

He knew about the collar she was wearing; it was made to restrict bending by interfering with energy channels. The ability to bend was still present, but only a limited amount could be utilised. And if the wearer pushed their limits, they would often become dizzy and sometimes even pass out.

But the collar's difficulty lay in the seal that was carved onto the inside of the lock, preventing the collar from being opened without the seal being released first. And if the collar was cut away, the breaking of the seal caused the release of a toxin that caused paralysis, intended to incapacitate the slave who was attempting to escape so they could be found and recaptured.

Zolt knew what he could do.

"Hold still," he instructed Korra mildly, drawing out a small dagger.

Korra stiffened, barely registering his words before she felt a sudden brush of cool, sharp metal against her neck. She jerked backwards, but Zolt closed one hand around the base of the collar and yanked it away from the back of her neck. Korra yelped as the needle was pulled out, but promptly forgot the pain when she saw the collar resting in Zolt's hands, the leather parted by a smooth, clean cut.

And he'd never even nicked her skin.

For a moment, she felt fine. Then numbness washed through her body with astonishing speed, and every muscle suddenly felt like it was made of water. Her legs folded and she tumbled into Zolts's arms, unable to even so much as cry out.

The Fire bender was surprisingly gentle as he lifted her, moving to the centre of the room and depositing her on the cold stone. He arranged her unresponsive limbs almost artistically, half-curled into her as though she had tried to pull herself into a fetal position. Zolt noted the blood from his palm was smearing across her skin, and deliberately crumpled the corner of her underwear in one fist, letting the blood seep into the fabric.

He hooked her pants around her ankles once more, and placed the shredded remnants of her shirt about her, trying to make it appear as though he just ripped at her clothes, took what he wanted, and then left her where she lay.

Such blatant dismissal and humiliation of her would only enrage Mako further.

Zolt knew that Mako had been given many years to think over the events of the murder of his parents. Zolt was quite certain that any confrontation between himself and Mako would involve several very pertinent questions, questions he hoped to avoid.

If Mako thought that he had raped Korra, it was possible he would simply burn him alive in a fit of rage rather then check himself for the sake of information.

Korra felt Zolt position her on the floor, her limbs as unresponsive as lead weights even as she screamed at them to move. But even through her desperation, some part of her registered that this was certainly a very elaborate ruse Zolt was concocting; what was the point? He wanted Mako to think he'd raped her, why? What could it possibly gain him?

Unless, after all these years, provoking Mako had become some kind of game to him?

She saw Zolt grasp the collar and break the needle off before settling it around her neck, giving the illusion that it was still intact. Her body was turned towards the entrance, and for a moment she hoped she'd be able to see Mako come in, but Zolt deliberately brushed a few locks of hair over her face, obscuring her turquoise eyes, obviously intending for Mako to believe she was unconscious when he came in.

Considering that her body felt as though it was nothing more than a lump of marble she was imprisoned in, there was absolutely no way she could let Mako know she was conscious, if he couldn't see her eyes.

The fact that she couldn't even push her hair out of her face both irritated and frightened her. Loss of control had never sat well with her, and Korra had to fight an almost smothering feeling of claustrophobia. The fact that her hair was essentially blinding her didn't help with her fear, either.

A very desperate battle was about to begin and she was completely helpless; she wouldn't even be able to roll out of the way. Hell, she wouldn't even see an attack coming!

_'Calm down,'_ Korra told herself. _'Panicking will get you nowhere. Focus, think clearly, and figure out a way out of this!'_

But what could she do if she couldn't move?

As Korra forced her mind to go over what she knew about the collar, she realised there was something she could do. The collar worked via chemicals, which meant that this paralysis had probably been triggered by the release of a toxin, so if she could channel energy into her body, especially her liver, she could detox her system and probably recover much faster.

Deciding this to be the best course of action, Korra slowly and cautiously, tried to channel her energy. It was difficult, mainly because she couldn't move. Katara had trained her to channel energy to the affected site via her hands, simply because it was far easier to move energy to the hands and out, than to let it transverse the complex systems throughout the body to reach what it needed.

And as Korra had to do this without the use of her arms, she knew it was going to take awhile.

* * *

Mako practically flew through the ruined city towards the Triad HQ, not slowing his pace in the slightest even when Ming Hua shouted about a large energy approaching them at great speed.

A flutter of a Triad cloak, and then Viper was standing in front of them, a smug expression upon his face.

"Where is she?" Mako's words were dangerously quiet.

"She is with Zolt," Viper said mildly. "Mako, please continue on alone. Zolt would prefer it if the rest of us waited here."

"You three stay here!" Mako snapped. While he would have preferred that they came along to ensure Korra was taken out of harms way, he wasn't about to take the risk that Zolt might hurt her if anyone but himself approached.

"Hey, if the guy's got Princess, shouldn't we come along?" Ghazan piped up, a little winded a result of the frantic pace Mako had set. "I mean, we should make sure she gets away, right?"

But he was talking to empty air. Mako had already gone on.

Ghazan cursed.

"I'm sure Mako will take care of Korra," Zaheer said quietly, sounding as though he were trying to convince himself. He clutched Korra's pack like a talisman, and there was a look in his eye that suggested he was struggling with his bloodlust.

Ghazan shrugged, letting the matter drop. He eyed Viper and considered challenging him, that was the whole reason he had gone along with Mako, after all, but just as quickly dismissed it. The punishing run to the hideout had left him too exhausted to attempt to fight a man so strong.

And if Zaheer snapped, he wanted to be fit enough to get out of the way in a hurry.

* * *

"You took your time, Mako," Zolt remarked as the young Fire bender entered. "I'm afraid Korra and I had to entertain ourselves without you."

Mako told himself that the red rage that swamped him was because he faced the killer of his family. But he knew it was lie; that had been given time to settle, and was cold and sharp, hard and calculated now. This was the red hot, liquid burn of a fresh wound, a new fury.

And its source was Korra: unconscious and in a state of undress, curled in pain and visibly violated on the cold stone floor, marks and bruises curling about her body like shadows.

While he had run towards the Triad HQ, he had feared that Korra might be suffering by Zolt's hand. The thought that Zolt might rape her had never once crossed his mind.

"You should have left her out of this." Mako could practically taste adrenaline and fury on his tongue.

Zolt let out a soft, mocking sound that Mako didn't think could be considered a laugh. "But it was you who brought her into this."

Zolt could feel the threatening pulses of Mako's energy filling the room; the young Fire bender was reacting exactly as Zolt had thought he would. Since the collapse of the Equalists, many people had been telling tales, and he'd paid particular attention to those involving Mako.

Particularly those of how Korra had come to be with him. The fate of a captured woman in an Equalist base was never pleasant; Zolt suspected that Korra being raped was an old fear of Mako's, and he had not simply hit that button, he had sent a lightning strike into it.

Mako dragged his eyes away from Korra's still form, knowing that if he kept looking at her battered body, his cool resolve would go flying out the window, along with any control of the situation he currently held.

He was inches away from Korra's motionless form, but he quelled the urge to reach out to her; he had to deal with Zolt first.

"I have one last question for you," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"A question?" Zolt mused. "I thought you would have wanted to kill me on the spot, especially after what I did to little Korra."

Blood pulsed through Mako's veins, echoing in his ears and momentarily drowning out Zolt's taunting words in a rush of fury. His teeth ground together, and it took every particle of will he had not to lunge for Zolt and attempt to tear his heart from his chest.

"Why did you do it?" he asked, as though Zolt had never spoken.

"Will giving a reason change the fact that it happened?" Zolt remarked, but it sounded rather wet to Korra's ears, as though he were choking on something.

"It'll give me more satisfaction after I kill you!" Mako spat. "On that night, you said there was a reason you had done it. Why?"

"You're my son."

_'What?'_ was all that Korra could manage to think. '_Mako is Zolt's son? How can that be possible? Unless…'_

She could vaguely hear Mako making objections that matched her own, and tuned back in to the surreal conversation, curious in spite of herself.

"It's true. Your mother and I had been betrothed before she left the Fire Nation to move to Republic City. She was pregnant with you when she left." came Zolt's voice once more. "Whether you believe me or not is your choice."

"I've had enough of your bullshit!" Mako snarled; not unreasonably, Korra felt.

"People live their lives bound by what they accept as true, and that's how they define their reality," Zolt said, and Korra thought it was an odd time to wax philosophical. "But truth is merely a vague concept, and as such their reality may actually be a mirage."

"What are you getting at?" Mako was sounding more and more irritated.

"The way you simply decided that the fact that you could be my son was not true. The way you believed that your mother had only ever had one love."

Korra couldn't actually wince, but she cringed mentally on Mako's behalf.

Mako felt rage course painfully through his body. All Zolt's babbling about truth and reality were nothing but mindless drivel; the reality was his parent's bodies lying singed and unrecognisable, the reality was an unconscious and raped Korra barely a meter away from him.

The reality was that Zolt was a monster. A monster that he was finally going to slay; father or not.

* * *

Now before anyone blows their top at me changing the character history from the original, I'd like to remind you that doing so is one of the perks of writing fanfiction; you can do with it what you will. Quite honestly, I like the idea of Zolt being Mako's father (the eyebrows would certainly be a family trait) and that Naoki, his mother, did actually have a life back in the Fire Nation. Despite doing this, Mako's love for the parents he knew and the brother he cherishes does not change I just felt it would help to shape the plot a little bit better.

Anywho, as always, enjoy and review (kindly). Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

Cadence Chapter Sixteen: Showdown

* * *

Mako spun, his set of kali sticks slicing through the air, driving themselves into the stonewall, an inch past Zolt's bruised cheek. After a threatening moment, he pulled his kali sticks out of the wall, bringing them to rest by his side.

"You won't be able to beat me with physical strength alone," Zolt commented.

"Then use your bending and try to kill me now!" Mako challenged.

"My Fire bending has a unique characteristic," Zolt said as he made his way towards Mako.

Mako's brow furrowed. What the hell was this? Zolt had challenged him, practically slapping him in the face by abducting Korra to use as a bargaining chip and so far, all he had done was lecture him and, as far as Mako was concerned, sprout nonsense.

"From the day it is activated, the user begins to weaken. The more you use it, the faster the process occurs."

Mako made note of that information; it seemed complete loss of the ability to bend was the eventual price the user paid for their gift.

But frankly, he had more pressing things to discuss. "What kind of 'characteristic'?"

"Like Princess Azula, my Fire Bending, though only recently, has become blue. This makes my bending a lot more powerful than your own."

Behind Mako, Korra tried to curl her fingers and was rewarded when she felt the muscles in her arm twitch. The end result wasn't anything close to actual movement, but it was something.

"There's more to Fire bending than the colour of the flame, Zolt." she could hear Mako retorting.

"Mm. Perhaps," Zolt replied, his palms becoming engulfed in blue flames.

Mako wondered if he should feel something. An increase in fury, in hate but he only felt unnaturally calm.

He shed his black cloak, giving his body room to maneuver quickly if needed.

It was time to end this once and for all.

His resolve waned when he heard Korra make some kind of muffled sound, but he didn't dare turn his back on Zolt to check on her though he desperately wanted to.

Instead, he ran his fingers over his dagger, conjuring electricity to his fingertips and letting it course through the dagger. Using the kali sticks as a projectile, he sent the lightning shooting out through the metal blades and towards Zolt. He wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when Zolt countered it exactly, the crackling electricity fizzling out mid-air, leaving the room sizzling, the occasional spark radiating off the ground.

Mako conjured more energy, this time calling forth a storm of lightning bolts. Sending each one towards Zolt only to have them countered by one of his Zolt's own. It was difficult to both keep his eyes on his opponent and ensure that no sparks could fly past him and hit the incapacitated Korra at the same time.

Zolt lunged, and Mako lunged too. Zolt aimed for his face with a small knife in his hand, and Mako's fingers shot out and caught Zolt's wrist as he swept his kali sticks towards Zolt's side. Zolt's hand gripped Mako's forearm, jerking the blade to a halt.

For a moment, the stalemate held until Zolt, taking advantage of Mako's slight hesitancy, sliced the small knife across Mako's face.

At the cutting of his flesh, Mako instinctively released Zolt's wrist, placing his hand over the new wound upon his skin. Hissing, Mako ignited his Fire bending, the flames reminiscent of snakes, its body twisting around him to inspect its prey before going in for the kill, lunging for Zolt, fangs bared. The older Fire bender leapt back, away from the flames licking at his heels. Mako wasted no time in following up in his initial attack.

The flames receded, vanishing in a burst of smoke, and Mako charged his kali sticks with the power of lightning once more before he sent them hurtling towards his opponent. Zolt tried to counter it with a burst of flames, but the power of the lightning ensured it sliced through the flames like a hot knife through butter, carving into the body beyond...

That was Mako had expected however was taken off guard when, from behind a blanket of smoke, Zolt emerged, slamming him into the cold stone wall, driving a fist into his gut and pinning him against the stone with one hand twisted over his head and a heavy foot nailing his own to the floor.

'_Move!'_ Mako told himself firmly. _'Move!'_

"I'm sorry, Mako," Zolt intoned as greedy fingers reached for his left eye.

'_Move!'_

Mako's chants were halted by the blast of searing, white-hot pain that ripped through him as Zolt sent a surge of lightning through Mako's body. For a moment, Mako forgot how to breathe; he forgot everything but the agony.

He might have screamed; he wasn't sure.

"I warned you," Zolt said, sounding as though he were scolding a child that had been playing with something dangerous. "Against me, you don't stand a chance."

_'Move,'_ Mako screamed at himself. _'You have to move!'_

"You know you can't win," Zolt whispered.

Trying to focus on anything but the searing pain coursing through his body, Mako lashed out, knocking Zolt, who had been leering over him, to his knees.

'_Move!'_ Mako coached himself, watching in horrified fascination as Zolt got to his feet.

_'For Spirit's sake Mako, __move!_'

"This is it, Mako," Zolt, who was approaching the semi-conscious Mako, said as his fingertips began to sizzle once more. "I'll take your life. And, perhaps more importantly, I'll take Korra..."

That was it. With a burst of raw fury, Mako finally found the strength needed to get to his hands and knees. A sense of vertigo swamped him, sending him reeling to his knees once more, the pain in his torso having caused him to black out for a few seconds. After a few more moments, he came to and managed to pull himself up from the floor.

For a moment, the Fire benders held each other's stare, the tension broken by the loud sound of flesh smacking hard against stone, and a soft hiss.

Though loathed to turn away from Zolt, Mako jerked his head to the side just enough to glimpse at the mocha skinned woman behind him.

Korra was no longer on her side, but sprawled on her belly, one hand braced against the ground as she slowly, painfully, endeavored to push herself upright.

It was as though she could barely move.

"What did you do to her?" he found himself snapping despite his now raspy voice.

"Just something to make her more, _cooperative_, so to speak," Zolt told him, turning his hands to face palm upwards, revealing to Mako a long gash that scored his palm, identical to the one across his collarbone. "She is extremely proficient in the use of energy scalpels, and not at all hesitant to fight to defend herself. I'd expect nothing less of the Avatar, even if she knows it will be a losing battle."

Zolt watched the muscles in Mako's jaw clench violently, feeling his gaze skim the bruise on his face, his split lip, knowing Mako would be picturing the circumstances in which they were inflicted.

"But don't be so greedy with your little toy, Mako, I'm sure your mother would have taught you to share."

Mako's throat trembled with the urge to shout at him. To shriek that he had no right to speak of his mother, to scream that Korra wasn't a plaything.

Zolt knew his words were like flint against tinder; he could see it in Mako's amber eyes, so much like his own. There was the rage, yes, and the hatred that had always been there but now they were so much darker. Mako's yearning for revenge had been made vivid and sharp, given new life and strength, by this fresh betrayal.

By Zolt's rape of the woman Mako loved.

Mako took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to banish the grotesque mental images that Zolt's words had splattered through his mind like blood. He hadn't allowed himself to think of what Korra had endured; he couldn't. He had spent years harnessing the rage he had felt at the death of his parents, turning it into the sort of cold fury that would allow him to face Zolt with a clear head.

He might almost say the wound had scabbed over somewhat.

But this, what had been done to Korra, it was like tearing open that injury once more and grinding salt into it.

_'Don't think about it!'_ he told himself. _'Not now, focus on Zolt, focus on killing him!'_

He wouldn't think about what Zolt had done to Korra; he couldn't. He knew that if he even allowed himself to contemplate it, he'd collapse in despair.

* * *

If Korra had been capable of flinching, she would have done so when she heard the clapping of lightning against lightning. Her trained ears told her it was the sound of specialized Lightning bending, and for several moments she was afraid she was suddenly going to feel the electricity course into her body.

But there was nothing, and this time, when she tried to move her arm she was rewarded with a slight shift. It wasn't much, but it was enough for her to slowly, painfully curl her arms under her body.

Her muscles felt as though they were gripped by numb cramps; painless, but uncooperative. It took some time to ease them under her, and when she tried to lever herself into something of an upright position, she rose perhaps three inches before her limbs buckled and she fell to the ground again, smacking the side of her face against the stone.

Attempting to sit up mere seconds after first regaining control in her paralysed limbs might have been a little too ambitious.

Korra hissed in pain as her cheek stung, but never one to give up easily, she braced one trembling arm against the floor and tried to at least turn herself over.

She could hear Mako and Zolt speaking once more, but this time she ignored them in favour of struggling with her obstinate muscles. She tried to swear, but her face still wasn't quite obeying her, and all she could let out was a vicious mumble.

Stupid collar. Even broken and useless, it was still making her life difficult.

* * *

Zolt suddenly shut his eyes, focusing in conjuring what Mako guessed was Zolt's unique fire bending technique; the blue flame. The younger Fire bender reached for his kali sticks, now rigged with wire. He charged them with lightning, unleashing one at the height of Zolt's neck, the other at his ankles.

Zolt moved in a way that Mako was quite sure would be impossible for any non-bender, somehow managing to duck and jump at the same time to avoid the weapons. For a moment, his body was almost horizontal in the air as the kali sticks passed above and below him.

Mako tugged on the wires in his hand, causing the kali sticks to fly backwards towards Zolt.

Even as one of the blades drove into Zolt's thigh, Mako was watching the flight path of the other, ensuring it didn't stray close to Korra.

Zolt was on his knees again, this time pulling the blade from his mutilated leg.

Mako gave him no time to recover, and sent a fireball roaring through the air towards him. The elder Fire bender leapt into the air to avoid the flames and Mako followed, lightning crackling at his fingertips.

He wasn't aiming for Zolt however; he was aiming for the ceiling.

His lightning hit the roof, blowing a large section of it to pieces. Zolt threw himself through the hole and into the open air, sending a fireball back at Mako as he followed.

Mako made it onto the roof of the building before the fireball hit him.

As one, both Fire benders unleashed another spurt of fire. The flames mingled in front of them like clashing swords, and Mako felt a surge of triumph when he realised his flames were pushing Zolt's back.

But without warning, Zolt released his blue flames.

* * *

Korra felt a fierce grin pull at her facial muscles when she finally struggled into a semi-upright position. She'd needed to use the wall for support, somehow having managed to drag herself over to it while Mako and Zolt were having their duel of flames. She was now at least sitting up, in semi-control of her limbs and finally able to see what was going on.

It seemed that in the time it took her to gain control of her muscles, the pair of Fire benders had moved their battle to the rooftop. A definite advantage for her as now she probably wouldn't have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire.

Korra seized the tattered collar and ripped it from her neck, throwing it to the ground with a surge of primal satisfaction. She actually had the childish urge to go over and stomp on it a few times.

Under normal circumstances, Korra might have indulged that urge but these were hardly normal circumstances, and she had more pressing concerns at that moment.

She pressed her hands against her torso, channeling energy to where it was needed, trying to purge the chemical from her body as swiftly as possible.

* * *

The blue flames consumed Mako's fire, swallowing it whole, like a predator devouring its prey.

Despite it's power, Zolt's technique was not without cost; Mako could surmise as much from Zolt's heavy breathing.

Mako watched and waited, ready for the moment when Zolt would surely try to use his blue flames again, slowly but surely wearing himself out. Zolt would hardly be a threat; assuming that was the way he planned to fight.

And that was what Mako was counting on. The technique he needed to use to escape Zolt's onslaught would consume a large amount of energy, leaving him in a worse off state than Zolt.

The blue flames spread across the rooftop and towards Mako. He turned and ran, because it would have seemed suspicious if he hadn't at least tried to evade, but the flames caught up to him, catching on his right arm and moving quickly to smother his body.

Cloaked by the flames, it was easy to use a lightning charged technique to split the roof beneath him, giving himself a bolthole. And so he did so, ignoring the stench of partially burnt flesh, Mako squeezed himself through the hole and dropped to the floor inside the stone room once more.

"I've got to admit, that was kind of cool," came a weak voice from behind him.

Mako turned, surprised to see Korra propped against the stonewall, one hand clutching her mutilated bindings to her chest, prompting another surge of rage to rise in Mako's chest, the other pressed to her abdomen, energy glowing between her fingers. Her back was braced against the wall and she seemed rather unsteady on her feet, but her eyes were bright and clear.

Mako chose not to examine the feeling of relief that swamped him at the sight, and instead turned his attention back to the battle with Zolt. He allowed his Fire bending to gather, changing and warping it, providing him with new power as he sent a swift succession of fireballs into the roof, splitting the ceiling apart until half the chamber was exposed.

Mako grimaced as he felt his flames retract; he was practically out of energy. But it didn't matter; everything was in place for his final attack.

Korra stared at Mako, wondering what he was planning on doing. He looked like he was barely capable of standing; he couldn't have much energy remaining.

She was surprised when rain suddenly began to pour from the sky. Lightning illuminated everything in brilliant light for a moment, before thunder cracked right overhead.

Mako raised his hand, a small amount of lightning crackling through his fingers, too small to really do any damage and that's when Korra realised what he was going to do.

He had used the fireballs to warm up the atmosphere and create a powerful rising current that would form thunderclouds within seconds.

This storm was Mako's creation. He was low on energy, so instead of exerting himself, he was going to channel the energy of the lightning above. She'd heard of benders who used the power of nature but never anything like this.

If the attack hit, it would completely obliterate the building.

"Hey, if your attack kills me, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life," Korra told him. "I mean it; rattling chains, creepy moaning, the whole deal."

Mako didn't brother replying; he raised his hand, judging the static in the air to be the amount he needed. Confident that Zolt was too weakened to try for another direct attack, he moved to Korra.

He knew he couldn't leave her alone; this attack had a good chance of demolishing the entire building, and she was in no condition to get herself out of the way. He didn't know if she'd welcome being touched after what she'd just endured, but there was no other way.

He slipped the hand that wasn't charged with lightning around her waist, pulling her in front of him. "Put your arms around my neck and hold on."

She did as he instructed, her movements slightly laggy, as though she had to force herself to do so. Mako tried not to think about that and sprang onto the rooftop again, the highest point of the rooftop, more specifically, Korra held tightly against him.

Korra spluttered and coughed a little as rain suddenly began to stream into her face. She was feeling a little embarrassed at being pressed so closely to Mako while in her state of undress, but if he could ignore that fact that all she had on was a torn bindings and a pair of crumpled underwear, then so could she.

Mako raised his hand and the lightning in the clouds above crackled menacingly, the long forks and bolts warping and twisting, shaping themselves into a hideous creature with claws and fangs, made of what seemed to be solid electricity.

"Whoa," Korra whispered.

Mako brought his hand down, leaping into the air as he did so and disconnecting both he and Korra from the ground.

The lightning descended, aimed squarely for Zolt. It hit in an explosion of stone shards and humming electricity, and Korra shut her eyes against the searing light and sudden wash of air pressure as the smell of ozone burnt into her nostrils.

When she opened her eyes again, she and Mako were standing in a sea of rubble. Zolt was lying on the ground, facedown and completely motionless.

_'Is he dead?'_ Korra wondered.

Mako began to waver on his feet, and Korra suddenly found that he was leaning on her more than she was leaning on him.

The rain was petering out; she supposed a technique of the magnitude Mako had just used was only good for one shot. But it was a pretty formidable shot.

There was a soft cough and Mako suddenly tensed. Korra gritted her teeth and tried to coax her neck muscles into movement once more, turning her head slightly around to see what had him so alarmed.

Zolt was slowly clambering to his feet. There was blood dribbling from his mouth, and he was obviously badly injured, but he was still alive.

"Korra, get out of here," Mako said in a low voice, his Fire bending ignited once more.

But his flames seemed different somehow. They were sparky, as though they weren't quite formed and then Korra saw it. The flames were turning blue.

"_Korra, go!" _Mako shouted.

"Going," she muttered, making her slow, painful way across the rubble. Her muscles were moving as though they had to thaw first.

She just needed to reach a relatively safe distance, and then she could heal herself, hopefully pulling the toxin from her body in one go.

She glanced back, blinking when she saw ghostly, translucent flames, Zolt shielded within them.

"This is the last weapon in my arsenal," Zolt said grimly.

Mako stared as the flames suddenly fleshed out, taking on the form of some never before seen creature, its transparent muscles and tendons flowing over the ethereal skeleton, ghostly flesh following after it.

A sudden, sharp pain in his temple sent Mako lurching to his knees; clearly an after effect of exerting so much energy. His body flared up in pain, and he had to fight the urge to scream.

Korra stared, horrified, as Mako doubled over obviously in a terrible amount of pain. She could tell instantly that this wasn't simply because of over exertion; this was something much worse.

Mako lost all control of his Fire bending in that moment, his flames whirling in all directions. As if instinctively, most of the flames lunged for the strange, demonic-looking entity sheltering Zolt, but the creature of flames was undeterred by Mako's onslaught. It was all Korra could do to hobble away from the chaos as she mentally re-judged her approximate 'safe distance'.

With Mako's demise fast encroaching, the remains of his flames vanished, leaving him on his knees, panting and gasping, obviously drained of energy and with barely enough strength to stand upright as Zolt slowly approached him.

Thinking fast, Korra decided to forget about the safe distance and clapped her hands against her side, trying for a quick purge.

A purge expelled most of the toxin that Korra was targeting very quickly, forcing the cells to metabolise it where they could, and expel it where they couldn't. It wasn't pretty, and Korra would have liked to avoid using it because of the drain it caused on her body, on her energy, but it was undoubtedly efficient.

Korra's body began to scream as every cell protested the abuse she was putting them through. But Korra wasn't afraid of pain. She held the technique for one moment, then two, before she released it, wiping at the sweat that had collected on her brow, pleased when there was no sluggish drag to the limb's movement.

Whatever had paralysed her was gone now.

She channeled her energy, feeling it hum through her body, flooding her limbs with power. Korra clenched her fists and started to make her way back to the Fire benders.

She saw Mako send bursts of fire towards Zolt, but they blew out against the ghostly creature that was protecting him, leaving him completely untouched. Mako tried again only to end up with the same result.

It seemed that bending was useless against the creature, so what about raw physical attacks?

Mako watched his flames disintegrate into smoke and ash against the creature's shield while Zolt kept up his slow, halting progress. Mako felt his first flicker of real, genuine fear. Nothing he was doing was working; Zolt just kept approaching.

He saw a flash of brown behind Zolt and realised that Korra was flying towards Zolt, raising her fist, apparently aiming for his head.

The demonic creature surrounding Zolt smashed itself against her, driving her back against a large piece of rubble. Korra's body struck the stone with a nauseating crack, leaving her to tumble to the ground like a lifeless doll.

For one sickening heartbeat, Mako thought she was dead; she wasn't moving. Before he could make his way over to her he saw her get to her hands and knees, rising slowly as she coughed, blood dribbling from her lips and staining her teeth red.

With an incoherent shout of rage, Mako drew forth the last of his energy and charged at Zolt.

His attacks rebounded, the force of the deflection slamming him into the ground. Though his body felt as though it was weakening by the moment, he struggled to his feet again.

* * *

Korra gasped, coughing up blood as she doubled over in agony. The blood in her mouth suggested one of her lungs had been punctured. She coughed again, more blood splattering onto the ground in front of her. Despite the searing pain in her upper body, Korra knew she had to start healing her lesser injuries if she were to have any chance in healing her punctured lung.

She counted herself as lucky that she at least had the energy to do it.

* * *

Mako stared at Zolt, wondering what on earth he could do. His attacks didn't work; none of them could breach the barrier Zolt had placed around himself.

_What could he do?_

Mako had thought himself equal to the task of killing Zolt, but he found that he was still far, far behind the elder Fire bender in skill.

He had abandoned Republic City, Asami, his brother, Korra; _for what_? He had trained himself to exhaustion for almost two years; _for what?_ He was completely powerless, he couldn't do a thing; Zolt was going to win, he was going to take his life, and then...

_'I'll have Korra...'_

Zolt had already raped her once; what would he do to her once Mako was dead?

Mako's amber eyes narrowed, quelling the urge to put some distance between him and Zolt as he stood his ground. If Zolt was going to try to take his life, then at some point, he would probably have to drop the shield. Or at least expose some part of his body to attack. And once the shield was set aside, Mako would make his move,

And in all likelihood, seal his own demise immediately afterwards. Mako was under no illusions, not anymore. He'd gone into this fight thinking he might be able to kill Zolt and survive but he knew better now. The elder Fire bender was too strong; all he could do was figure out some way to take Zolt down with him.

He wasn't even sure he could kill him, but at the very least, he could give Korra a chance to get away. He could tell she was already healing herself. He just needed keep Zolt occupied long enough to let her slip away...

And frankly, Mako didn't care what happened to him after that.

Zolt watched as resolve erased the flickers of fear in Mako's eyes, replacing them with grim purpose.

And judging by the way Mako's lit amber eyes had skimmed to Korra's crumpled form, Zolt had a good idea of what that resolve might be.

"What are you thinking of?" Mako quipped.

"My death, obviously," Zolt continued, blood bubbling down his chin. "But why?"

Mako's eyes widened almost comically, and Zolt thought his point had been made. The one thing he was ever going to teach his son, and perhaps the only true thing he could ever have taught him.

A warrior was always stronger when he fought for another's well-being and safety, rather than his own goals.

Mako was startled to realise that there was no thought of vengeance in his head; at this moment in time, he was facing down Zolt because it was the only way to protect Korra.

Zolt reached towards Mako, fingers outstretched towards his face, and Mako abandoned his tangled thoughts and stretched his own hands forward, reaching for Zolt's neck…

But before he could take action, Zolt's bloody fingers lay upon the crown of his, ruffled his hair like his father had done all those years ago.

"Sorry, my son," he whispered.

Then his body buckled, the burning fire dwindled and Zolt crumpled in a heap on the ground, eyes clouded over.

Zolt was finally dead.

* * *

Aaaaaaaaaand that's it. The massive showdown. Lots of injuries to be had by all involved and a lot of healing to come, both physically and mentally. I had a hard time writing out the fight scene (because I suck at fight scenes) but hope the chapter wasn't too bad. Review.

Bonami27.


	17. Chapter 17

Cadence Chapter Seventeen: Naked Truth

* * *

Mako was frozen, feeling his breath sting the back of his throat, unable to believe it was really over.

"Mako?"

Korra's voice snapped him from his state of paralysed disbelief, resting hi eyes upon her. She looked battered and bruised but healthy. A strange feeling of lightheadedness was swept through him, as though he were about to faint.

"Hey. Take it easy."

A small hand closed around his bicep. He dimly realised that Korra had reached out to him with her left hand, as her right was tucked into her side, holding her torn bindings to her body./pp

Through his hazy mindset, Mako still felt a wave of disgust and anguish wash over him at the sight. Numbly, he un-tucked his shirt from his pants, pulled it over his head and passed it over. It was bloody, tattered, and stiff with sweat but the size discrepancy ensured it would fall to Korra's mid-thigh, covering her where it was most important.

Korra donned it with a grateful smile. There was no way to secure it across the front, so she made a tiny tear in the fabric on one side, stuffed a small corner of the material on the other side through it and knotted it on the other side of the rip. She didn't think Mako would mind; the shirt was in tatters anyway.

Having secured the shirt to a more comfortable fit, Korra glanced back at Mako again to find him staring blankly at Zolt's body, looking dangerously pale.

"Maybe you should sit down," she hazarded, reaching out for him again. "I can heal you; properly this time-"

"He is dead…isn't he?" Mako said harshly, seizing her wrist in a grip that bordered on painful.

Korra flicked her eyes to Zolt's corpse. "…Mm."

"It's over. It's finally over" he whispered.

And that was all the warning Korra had before Mako's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell against her, unconscious. Korra's arms came up as she automatically clutched at him, lowering him slowly to the ground, her movements hampered by the fact that the muscles in Mako's fingers appeared to have locked around her wrist. Korra figured that Mako's hand wasn't moving from around her wrist anytime soon, so she gathered energy to her hands and pressed her fingers against Mako's chest, slowly healing his many injuries.

* * *

The Republic City party skidded to a halt, staring at the man who seemed to have appeared out of thin air in front of them.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd bump into anyone from Republic City out here!" he called. "And it's seven on one; that's not very fair!"

"Judging by what this guy is wearing, I think it's safe to assume that he's with the Triple Threat Triad," Lin commented.

"He's not on any Wanted lists I've seen," Tenzin mused.

"That's because I'm new!" the man practically chirped. "I'm Shin."

"Don't make any sudden moves," Lin warned the group. She said in an effort to keep Shin's attention solely on her, and not on the currently forming boulder beneath Bolin's feet.

But Shin seemed to sense the attack before Bolin had finished forming it, turning just as the boulder descended from overhead.

To everyone's surprise, Shin delivered a punishing punch in the direction of the boulder just as Bolin leapt forward to engage Shin in combat. The boulder however collided with Bolin, sending him careening into a small pond.

"Bolin!" Opal yelped.

But Bolin was only beneath the water for a moment before he made his way back to land. Opal's heart rate slowed when she realised he was unhurt.

"What kind of game should we play now?" Shin chuckled.

"We don't have time to screw around with you!" Bolin all but exploded.

* * *

Korra sighed, leaning back from Mako's motionless form, flicking her rain-sodden hair from her eyes; with the ways things were, she wouldn't be surprised if Mako didn't regain consciousness for a while.

She shook the hand Mako still held in his death-grip, hoping that perhaps his locked muscles had loosened in his unconscious state but had no luck in enticing his fingers lose. His fingers were still clamped tightly around her wrist and the only way to free her wrist would be if she broke his fingers.

She sighed once more. She didn't really have the heart to cause him more pain, even if she could just heal him afterwards.

She wondered if there was a search party out looking for her. She knew that Bolin wasn't the type to sit around and wait for her to return. If there were, surely they'd be close by now? And what of Zaheer, Ghazan and Ming Hua, surely they were somewhere nearby?

Wanting the answers to all her questions and with nothing but time on her hands, Korra began to deliberately fluctuate her energy levels, essentially creating an SOS.

* * *

Lin stared at Shin and considered what they could do. They'd tried to attack in formation, and their strikes had simply slipped through.

It was clear that they were facing someone who was proficient in both bending and hand-to-hand combat. So much so that he was able to dissipate entire boulders with his bare hands.

The silver-haired bender was struggling to map out a plan of attack when Shin began to speak once more.

"Ah. I forgot to mention that it's all over. Mako won; Zolt is dead."

Lin's mind seemed to freeze, tripping over those words. And the others seemed to be in the same frame of mind. Their shock was almost palpable.

"Mako collapsed a few moments later, though," Shin went on. "And a storm is closing in. Korra will probably do her best to get them both out, but after the sort of healings she's been forced to do, who knows how that will play out? Anyway, it looks like I'll have to play with you some other time," Shin said, turning his back on them.

It was probably the angle, Shin's face moving into just the right place for light to reflect upon his face, illuminating his eyes. But for the first time, Lin realised that the man called Shin had the same eyes as Mako. As Zolt.

Who the hell was he?

"Bye, bye," Shin waved, all but vanishing into thin air.

"We have to get to Mako and Korra before Shin does!" Lin exclaimed, leaping to the top of a nearby tree to scout out the surrounding landscape.

She spotted some dark clouds hovering over a point several kilometers in the distance.

"There's an area about ten kilometers from here that's surrounded by a very powerful energy. The forest is burning…and the flames are black."

* * *

Korra continued fluctuating her chakra, hoping someone was going to come and help her and Mako.

But then a powerful presence suddenly flared into life right behind her. She couldn't make out who it was in the poor light of the storm.

Korra whipped around, her soaked hair scattering water droplets in a wide arc around her.

She made to stand, but Mako's hold on her wrist arrested her, and so she had to settle for a half-crouching position. Perhaps he had come to take Zolt's body?

But when the figure moved towards her and Mako, she knew he probably had something very different in mind. She waited until he was within striking distance and then drove her fist into his stomach, putting enough force behind the blow to rupture every internal organ in her path.

Her fist swung through him as though he were a mirage.

"Wha-?"

Korra jerked her head up to the figure's face and found herself staring into a pair of amber eyes.

Her body went slack and the last thing she recalled was the sensation of hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

* * *

"They've already gotten to Mako and Korra!" Kai called, scouting the air as the group ran through the forest, heading for where the black flames burned.

Lin said nothing, concentrating on the fluctuating energy signature in front of them. As they drew closer to Mako and Korra, they'd detected an energy in front of them that was rapidly rising and falling, the bender method of drawing attention to oneself over large distances.

It had to be Korra.

The black flames loomed in front of them, blocking their way, but Bolin acted quickly, his hands flying through seals before he slapped his palms on the ground. The earth rumbled, and the ground the black flames were raging on, lifted and split apart, providing them with a narrow path through the flames.

"Go!" Bolin shouted.

Lin nodded once and then sprang into the gap, the others hard on her heels. She searched for the energy signature but realised she couldn't find it.

Korra was either unconscious...or...

They burst into a clearing, finding it strewn with rubble...and nothing else. There was no sign of Mako or Korra.

"There's still a trace of their presence..." Jinora murmured. "But..."

"We're too late," Lin said bluntly, feeling bitter defeat sting in her throat.

She looked to Kai, blinking into the rain and looking dangerously close to morose. The young boy was staring at the uncharacteristically silent Bolin, who Lin didn't dare glance at.

Opal slowly, timidly, rested her hand on Bolin's shoulder. He didn't move, didn't acknowledge the gesture but he didn't shrug her off either.

* * *

Ming Hua ground to a halt so quickly Zaheer nearly bowled her over.

"What's the hold up?" Ghazan snarled. "You said Zolt's energy signature winked out; that means the fight's over, right?"

"They're gone," Ming Hua whispered, her eyes sliding closed as she mentally scanned the surrounding countryside.

"What do you mean?" Zaheer asked worriedly, clutching Korra's pack so tightly the material was beginning to crumple.

"Another energy, big, too, and really powerful, came on the scene and then they just disappeared!" Ming Hua hissed, already straining her powers to their very limit as she struggled to track Mako's energy.

Her eyes flew open and she spun around, facing towards the coast. "That way!"

Ghazan and Zaheer turned andfollowed her without a second thought.

* * *

Korra woke to find herself in a dark cave, lit only by a single candle. Someone had seen fit to lay her and Mako in a rough bed that consisted of two blankets and a thick wad of material that she supposed was meant as a pillow.

She pushed herself up slowly, glancing around. The last thing she recalled was being knocked out so it was probably safe to assume she and Mako were now captives of the man who was responsible for the now pulsing headache she had.

Korra was mildly impressed; this was her fourth consecutive kidnapping, and the third one that had been done by and fire bender. She felt like she deserved some certificate or medal. She wasn't sure what, exactly, but she deserved something!

She couldn't see their abductor, but the candle's light only reached so far. For all she knew, he could be lurking in the shadows, watching her every move.

She gently shook Mako by the shoulders, trying to coax him into consciousness. The hand he was clutching had gone numb from constricted circulation.

At being shook, Mako stirred, opening his eyes that came to focus on Korra's face for a moment before he allowed his gaze to take in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" he asked dully.

"I don't know," Korra admitted. "But...can you loosen your grip a bit?"

Mako blinked, not seeming to understand what she meant, causing Korra to jiggle her numb wrist for emphasis.

Mako looked down, and felt a flash of shame as he realised he was clutching Korra's wrist. After what she'd just been through, the last thing she'd want was a man holding onto her. He relaxed his hand almost instantly, his fingers slipping off her wrist as his muscles tinged painfully.

But even in the dim light, Korra's sharp eyes hadn't missed his grimace of pain.

"Hold still," she said, taking his hand, letting her healing energy alleviate the ache of his strained muscles.

Mako shifted slowly into a sitting position, noting that he didn't feel the throb and burn that his injuries should provide. In fact, he felt remarkably healthy, given that he had just been involved in the most difficult battle of his life.

"You healed me."

It wasn't a question, but Korra nodded in agreement anyway.

And then Mako noticed something else. "Your collar is gone."

He wondered why he hadn't realised it before though figured it was probably because he had been more absorbed on her bruises than anything else.

Mako's eyes fell to her legs, the edge of his shirt not falling far enough to conceal the livid fingermarks staining her inner thigh like perverse tattoos.

He grimaced and pulled his eyes away as his stomach performed a slow, torturous roll deep in his gut.

He tried not to think about it, focusing on Korra's voice.

"Zolt cut it off, the collar released a toxin when it was cut that paralysed me; obviously Amon's nasty idea, but I could heal that-" Korra bit her lip against the urge to babble. But she felt the need to say something, to keep Mako's attention on her. There was a frighteningly empty look in his eyes, as though if she didn't keep him focused on the present he would just slip away.

"But, of course, those healings took a bit out of me," she admitted. "I'm pretty low on energy and I doubt that you're much better."

"I'm not." It surprised Korra that Mako would admit that.

Mako's eyes ran slowly over her body, his heart giving a sharp, painful twist when his eyes found the bloodied bite mark on her neck.

Mako swallowed in an effort to suppress the bile that was creeping into his throat at the sight.

"Are you...alright?" he asked hesitantly.

It didn't take a genius to know what he was referring to.

"I know what you're thinking," Korra said softly. "And yes, I'm alright; Zolt didn't rape me."

Mako twitched, though whether at the mention of his father or the act he was supposed to have committed, even he couldn't say.

"But he-"

"I know," Korra interrupted, "I don't know why he made it look like he had...but he didn't."

Mako actually shuddered, feeling his chest expand as a wave of relief washed through him, almost painful in its intensity.

Before he even realised what he was doing, he had slipped his arms around Korra's waist and pulled her to him. His head rested against the hollow of her throat, and his world consisted of nothing but dark, dirtied skin and slow, even breaths that he could feel stirring his hair. She smelled of blood, sweat and ash but she was warm and her pulse thumped reassuringly against the shell of his ear.

He didn't even know why he was doing this. Maybe because he wanted to test the truth of her claim, to see if she shied away from physical contact. Maybe because he had tried so hard to pretend her faux-rape hadn't affected him that his emotional control was now practically nonexistent. Maybe because he wanted to forget that even as some part of him gloried in his revenge another part wept for his father.

Maybe because he just needed to hold her.

Korra swallowed, trying to dissolve the lump in her throat, as she felt Mako's hands slide up her back to rest against her shoulder blades, pressing her against him. His breath was coming in great gulps, and he was still shuddering violently.

All this just because she'd told him she hadn't been raped?

But at the same time, Korra knew it was more than that. It was the shock of Zolt's death setting in, the exhaustion from the fight. Everything.

"I'm okay..." she whispered. It was all she could offer him.

Mako kept his eyes closed, feeling the truth of her words soak into his bones.

She hadn't been raped. Zolt hadn't raped her. It occurred to him Korra might be lying in an effort to soothe him, but he doubted it. There was truth written in every line of her face, her eyes remained free of haunting fears, and she'd accepted his rather sudden embrace without so much as a flinch.

So why had Zolt deliberately made it seem as though he'd...?

Mako clenched his eyes shut. He didn't want to dwell on why Zolt had made him believe Korra had been raped, he just wanted to put it all behind him. To somehow forget about Zolt, forget about killing him, just erase the memory of the man from his life.

"But, Mako, there's something you should know," Korra went on. "We were grabbed by that Shin guy, he knocked me out pretty quickly, so I didn't see much..."

Mako stiffened, but as he was about to reply the man in question suddenly stepped into the light, making both of them tense instinctively. Korra was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that all she was wearing was Mako's shirt, held together by a few knots.

She really wanted some pants. It was hard to infuse yourself with confidence and courage when you were barely clothed.

"My apologies for knocking you out," he said to her, but Korra detected no sincerity in his voice. "But I needed to bring Mako here."

"So why did you take me?" Korra snapped.

"I did not want to have sever Mako's hand to separate you from him."

She supposed that was fair enough. But it still didn't explain why he'd wanted to bring Mako here in the first place. Unless the Triple Threat were recruiting, now that their leader was dead...

"So what do you want with me?" Mako asked, glad that Korra was on his other side. He felt better about this situation knowing he was serving as something of a physical barrier between Korra and Shin.

"I brought you here to tell you something very important, about Zolt," Shin said simply.

Mako clenched his jaw. Zolt was dead and gone. The murderer of his parents and his last surviving kin, finally laid to rest. His vengeance had been accomplished, and he had no desire to focus on how truly hollow it had made him feel.

It seemed Lin, and indeed, Korra, had been right. Revenge was only ever a Pyrrhic victory. All it left was ashes, despair, and emptiness.

Frankly, Mako didn't want to think about what he would have felt if he hadn't had Korra with him to focus on.

"But first, let me introduce myself," the man said.

And Mako didn't know what had happened. He glimpsed a pair of amber coloured eyes, painfully similar to his own and without queue or warning, black flames suddenly erupted on Shin's shoulder.

He cried out and clutched at his aching head, hearing Korra exclaim in shock as the man staggered back into the shadows with inky flames consuming his body.

"What was that?" Korra muttered, half to herself, as she tried to coax Mako's hands away from his head. "Come on, Mako, don't be a baby; let me see..."

Her voice trailed off as she got her first good look at his face. He looked beyond exhausted. His eyes were red raw, as though some of the vessels had been ruptured, but it was the colour of his iris that caught her eye.

"Mako...your eyes..."

Mako started, but anything he was going to say died in his throat when small fingers trailed along his cheek bones, around his aching eyes, energy flowing into his skin like cool, soothing water, erasing the pain as though it had never been. A hand that felt much more delicate than it actually was wiped the blood away, erasing the last trace of the hurt she'd healed, and even in his confusion Mako was certain the action had depths and undertones he didn't want to examine.

"You posses the skill of dark flame manipulation. Very few fire benders posses this skill. Only three in fact." came Shin's voice.

He stepped out from the shadows once more, without any sign, injury or blemish to indicate that he'd just been set on fire.

"Say that again?" Korra said, feeling very confused.

"Mako possesses an almost blood trait bending technique. This of course was passed onto him by his father, Zolt." He shrugged, and though there was no indication in his tone or demeanor, Korra felt that her presence was somehow an irritant to him. He was probably just pissed he'd had to bring her along.

"Quite remarkable really, considering that genetics doesn't necessarily ensure all bending capabilities are passed on, generation to generation. I suppose you could almost think of this as Zolt's last ditch effort in providing for his son." Shin mused.

Mako stared blankly at Shin in confusion but then remembered Zolt also utilizing the black flames in their earlier battle.

"Somehow, he passed all of his bending techniques to you," Shin continued, "As if to protect you."

Korra remained silent, watching the exchange while her mind whirred, simultaneously weighing how likely it was that they could trust this man and grappling with all the possible implications of his words.

Mako shook his head, turning away from Shin. Korra's hand came to rest against his back, and almost involuntarily, Mako found himself leaning into her shoulder.

"I assure you, I am speaking the truth," Shin said.

Korra felt Mako's muscles tense under her hand. She had thought she couldn't be more surprised than when Shin had told them that Zolt had tried to protect Mako. But she was wrong; this onslaught of information was plumbing all new depths of shock.

"I know everything there is to know about Zolt," Shin confessed, his tone tinged with the slightest hint of smugness. "Of course, he died without realising just how much I knew."

"_Shut up!_" Mako suddenly exploded, jerking away from Korra. Despite his outburst, Korra kept her hand on his back, and he was grateful for its steadying presence.

"Zolt worked tirelessly to keep us from meeting," Shin went on, ignoring Mako's outburst. "The only ones who knew the truth about you being Zolt's son were, Zolt, myself, Toza and Lin."

_'Lin knew? Why didn't she say anything?'_ Korra contemplated.

But Shin wasn't finished. "But I know the truth, too, though I doubt Zolt realised that, but he was cautious. On the off-chance I might have some knowledge of it, he tried to ensure I wouldn't speak of it to you. As I said, he was trying to protect you."

"No..." Mako said numbly.

Korra glanced at him worriedly. His body had been getting steadily more and more tense beneath her hand, as though he was a winding spring that was just about to snap. His breathing was approaching hyperventilation and Korra shifted slightly, bringing herself closer to him.

"No. No. He tried to kill me..." Mako was shaking his head violently. "He tried to kill me. He killed my parents…he raped-"

_'But he didn't'_, a cold voice in the back of his mind pointed out. _'Korra said he didn't, remember?'_

But Zolt had wanted to kill him...hadn't he?

A thousand memories of Zolt the murderer clashed with a thousand images of Zolt as his father, and Mako felt as though his mind was being torn in two by his confusion. He knew he was close to either a panic attack, or a destructive rage. He wasn't entirely sure which he would prefer.

Something boiled under his skin, like a snake, like a dragon. Something dark, scaled and fanged that hissed to be released.

Slender arms looped around his shoulders, and a warm body pressed itself against his side.

"Mako, stop."

Korra.

And as it had done before, as it had _always_ done, the dragon stilled at her touch, lying quiescent and compliant beneath soft turquoise eyes.

Korra could feel Mako begin to relax, and she fought the urge to smile in relief; doing so didn't seem to suit the situation somehow.

"He needs to breathe," Shin said impatiently, reaching out as though to push her back.

Mako knocked his hand away. "Touch her and I will _kill_ you!"

The guttural snarl and grim promise in his voice raised the hairs on the back of Korra's neck. Even Shin seemed to realise that pushing Mako on this issue would be unwise, because he withdrew his arm.

But Mako's moment of coherency seemed to have passed. He was clutching the blanket so tightly the tendons in his hands were standing out, and he was leaning against Korra again. Not that she minded, but it showed how close Mako was to the edge that he was actively seeking some form of comfort.

Her hands came up, one wrapping around his shoulders as the other began to stroke through his hair slowly, comfortingly, and he pressed his forehead against her neck.

"He killed our Mum and Dad," Mako was muttering, sounding almost feverish.

"It's true that he killed them and abandoned you, his son," Shin agreed, sounding completely unconcerned at the anguish his words were causing. "But he did it all orders from Republic City."

* * *

Finally an update for Cadence readers and followers. I'm not going to go into the ins and outs of my absence, only that it was due to personal circumstances. I do hope to update more often in the coming new year. Stay tuned. Bonami27.


	18. Chapter 18

Cadence Chapter Eighteen: Revelation

* * *

Korra was now quite confident that she was beyond shocked and was rather in some kind of emotional realm never before charted by human beings. Despite that, she knew whatever confusion she felt couldn't hold a candle to what Mako was feeling.

Zolt, his father, had murdered his parents...on _orders_?

"There was a problem in Republic City...a problem that stretches back to the day it was founded," Shin narrated. "Zolt was used to 'correct' that problem."

"What proof do we have that you're telling the truth?" Korra asked, unable to help herself from pointing out the obvious.

Though the dark lighting prevented her from seeing Shin's expression, Korra could practically feel a chill creep down her spine. Apparently he didn't like being interrupted.

Mako shifted minutely, muscles coiling, readying for action. Ready to fly at Shin if he made any move towards Korra. He glared at Shin, trying to communicate that he had been completely serious when he threatened him earlier. He didn't care how exhausted he was or what information this man promised; if Shin harmed Korra, he was a dead man.

Shin seemed to realise this, because he resumed speaking without making any sort of move towards the medic.

"I have no proof," he admitted. "It's your decision to believe me or not. But just hear me out. That's all I ask."

Korra didn't say a word. Sure, she was curious, but this decision was entirely in Mako's hands; she didn't have the right to make it for him. There was a moment of silence before she felt Mako nod slowly against her.

"Alright, tell us."

His voice sounded firm, but Korra couldn't help but notice that one of his arms had disengaged from the blanket to slip around her waist, holding onto her as a child might clutch a stuffed toy for comfort.

Whatever indifference he might pretend, she could tell Mako was truly scared of what he was about to hear.

Mako knew that, under normal circumstances, he would probably be rather embarrassed by the way he was clinging to Korra.

But these weren't normal circumstances. He felt as though he was teetering on the edge of some sort of breakdown and were he to crumble, he didn't know what would happen. Holding onto Korra like he was, made him feel calmer somehow, more in control of himself.

He listened to Shin tell them about the time when Bending was specific to individual clans and villages. While each Bending type was regarded as strong in it's own right, there were two that were proclaimed as the strongest; Fire and Earth. Even among the other benders, those who possessed the ability to either Earth or Fire bend were considered to be unusually powerful. Add into the equation that some managed to unlock bending sub-types, and all hell began to break lose.

Shin claimed that Earth and Fire Benders were rivals, each the only one who could match the other's skill. And as they clashed time and time again, numbers of each type began to dwindle.

"What does this have to do with the murder of my parents?" Mako's voice was deceptively calm.

"Hm. Despite Republic City advertising safety for all, Benders and Non-Benders alike, those in power feared the possibility for history to repeat itself," Shin clarified. "The more powerful the Earth and Fire benders grew, the more out of control the city would fall. Could you imagine what were to happen if two of the strongest bending types were to be combined?"

Mako swallowed, knowing full well what Shin was getting at. A child born of both the Earth and Bending types would be, were they to obtain full control of their abilities, potentially unstoppable.

Apparently, those in power within Republic City had clued onto this information and were trying to eradicate the possibility of this from happening, in any way they could. Users of both the Earth and Fire bending abilities were being barred entry into Republic City, marital screenings were taking place and citizens were being evicted from their homes simply for possessing the ability to bend either of these two elements. Republic City, despite it's harsh treatment of Benders and some of it's citizens, managed to prevent an all out war between the two rival bending types. Without the warring rival clans, the fighting lessened, and eventually, peace descended.

Still though, there were those of the Earth and Fire bending types that managed to slip through the cracks.

"Three guesses as to who managed to find their way into Republic City, undetected." Shin mused.

"My parents." Mako stated, answering Shin's rhetorical question.

But the Republic City Council now suspected that the two clans had set their sights on overthrowing the council. Following on from the 'almost civil war', both Fire and Earth benders were closely monitored and segregated to one corner of the United Republic.

"The clans mistrust and suspicion birthed ill-will," Shin went on. "And eventually, suspicion became reality, and the two began plotting to over throw the Council. So the Council planted a spy within the Fire clan...and that spy was your father, Zolt."

Korra stiffened, and she felt Mako do the same.

"Though you possess the Fire bending ability, you were too young to be involved in something of that magnitude," Shin shrugged. "So your parents never made you aware of the situation at hand."

He told them that Zolt had been the ringleader, and that he had agreed to the council's orders, to act as a spy for the Council, on the condition that Mako was kept safe and in doing so, became a double agent, having kept tabs on the Fire benders.

"Why?" Mako asked dully. He had the feeling he should be having more of a reaction to this, but he felt strangely detached from all he was hearing, as though it wasn't quite real.

Korra's hand brushed over his scalp again, and he closed his eyes.

Korra listened as Shin told them that Zolt had lived through part of the Hundred Year War when he was barely four years old, and seeing many of his family die at that young age had made him the kind of man who hated conflict. He cared about the stability of the United Republic – about peace – more than he cared about his own clan's ambitions.

And when he was given the task of annihilating his entire clan, he made his choice. If the Fire Bending clan had started a civil war, it would have torn The United Republic apart...and the other countries certainly wouldn't have wasted such an opportunity to invade. They would have struck, and it would have triggered another war.

Millions would have died...all in the name of the Fire bending clan's self-interest.

So Zolt was left with a difficult choice.

"At the time, I was bitter both towards the Council, who had cast me out, and the Fire benders, who had refused to support me," Shin went on. "Zolt was the only who realised I was still alive, and he sought me out to make me an offer. In return for allowing me to get revenge on the Fire benders, he asked me not to harm the rest of The United Republic. I agreed, and Zolt carried out his orders."

Mako seemed to flinch, and Korra couldn't help but worry about his mental state. It couldn't be good for him to be hearing this so soon after he'd killed Zolt.

But Shin wasn't finished. "Killing fellow fire benders, leaving The United Republic...it was all part of his duty. And he fulfilled it, except for one mistake."

Korra had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"He was unable to kill his son."

Korra winced.

Shin told them that Zolt had pleaded with the Council to protect Mako. Then he left The United Republic, but not before threatening the Council that if any harm came to Mako, he would leak everything he knew about the Council to enemy countries. He gave Mako revenge as his goal and had he begged the Council not to tell Mako the truth, wanting him to believe that the Fire bending clan was a clan to be proud of.

Since the day he left The United Republic, Zolt had planned to fight Mako...and then die by his hand.

Korra wondered if death had come as something of a relief to Zolt.

"Lying..." Mako mumbled, sounding almost incoherent again. "You're lying...you have to be lying..."

He took a deep breath and straightened, peeling himself away from Korra, though one arm stayed securely around her waist. Korra chose not to mention that his grip was getting a little tight.

"I was almost killed, more than once," he said, his voice sounding markedly steadier.

"It was all part of his plan," Shin countered. "He had to drive you into a corner to free you from the grips of the Council."

"You're lying!" Mako snapped.

"Am I?" Shin said blandly. "I told you; he was afraid you'd find out the truth. He lied so you wouldn't trust me. Everything about that battle was scripted...after all, he didn't rape Korra, did he?"

Mako froze, as did Korra.

"Zolt made you believe that he'd raped her, on the off-chance that you would be so furious at what he'd done to her, you would simply kill him without bothering to ask your questions. He wanted to make you angry, and he probably decided she was his best chance at doing so."

Mako couldn't help but think that was certainly true. If Zolt had raped Ming Hua, for example, he would have been sickened, disgusted...

But it would never have come close to the anguish that had ripped through him when he thought Zolt had forced himself on Korra.

Mako shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "No! Zolt was evil! He was a criminal-"

"He formed the Triple Threat Triad in order to keep watch on the Council from underground. He knew he could never return to Republic City, but when he got wind of you, he did so anyway. The old Council had sworn to protect you, so his appearance was to warn the reformed Council that he was still alive, and there would be grave consequences if you were harmed."

"Liar!" Mako snarled, but it was weaker now. He was remembering Zolt's seemingly random comments on the nature of truth before they had truly joined battle.

They seemed disjointed and nonsensical at the time...but when set beside Shin's story, everything began to make a horrible sort of sense.

Korra was remembering the same thing...but she couldn't help but wonder what Shin's motive was in telling them this.

"Zolt ensured that his death would give you a new power, and that in defeating him, you could be hailed as a hero in Republic City. Everything he did, was only for your sake."

Korra grimaced. Her head was spinning. Zolt had killed many, not just Mako's parents, yes, and in doing so, had prevented a civil war. He'd joined and become head of the Triple Threat Triad, yes, but he'd also done his best to save Mako's life. He loved Mako, but he'd practically made his life a living hell...

And if it was screwing with her mind to this extent, she could only imagine what it was doing to Mako.

At least, assuming Shin had told the truth. She was hesitant to believe something as unsubstantiated as this, but her gut told her that his story was true; the part about Zolt, at least. She still didn't think Shin's motivations were really as good and noble as he'd made out.

"But I've said what I came to say, so now I'll show you the way out," Shin commented.

That only served to increase Korra's suspicions. He just told them the story and now he was letting them go? She didn't buy it; he _had_ to have some ulterior motive. Shin didn't strike her as the type who did something like this just for the hell of it.

"Come on, Mako, we should get out of here," she murmured, tugging on Mako's shoulders so he stood with her.

He seemed calm and composed, but Korra knew this wasn't the calm of someone at peace. This was the composure of someone who was minutes, maybe seconds away from a breakdown.

His arm was clamped so tightly around her waist she was certain it was bruising. She slowly, gently, peeled the limb away and draped it over her shoulder instead, where it clung just as tightly. She slid her own arm around his waist, to hold him up in case he collapsed.

Physically, he was reasonably healthy, of course, but mentally was quite another story. Korra had seen enough breakdowns to know that mental and emotional strain could be a thousand times more debilitating than physical exhaustion.

If Mako collapsed, she wanted to be ready for it.

Shin led them out into the sunlight, and Korra was startled to realise they were on a beach. They must have been in one of those seaside caves shaped by the tide.

Shin watched Mako and Korra emerge from the cave, clinging tightly to each other, and felt the first stirring of disquiet.

He had thought that, after telling Mako the truth about Zolt, it would be easy to persuade him to join the Triad against Republic City. To be honest, he hadn't imagined much persuading taking place; he'd believed that Mako would simply take the initiative and begin his crusade against the upper echelon in Republic City on his own. Yes, Korra was the Avatar, and thus protector of Republic City, but he hadn't thought she would be capable of dissuading him.

He had brought her along in an effort to determine her effect on Mako, though he hadn't anticipated her influence being very high. He had assumed Mako had taken her with him to use her medical skills, with perhaps a vague sense of nostalgia for his former life...

But the way Mako was holding her now, his reaction when he'd believed her threatened, their interaction in the cave; it was all telling Shin that he had severely underestimated this woman's importance to Mako.

Perhaps he should make a roundabout suggestion?

Mako blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, wondering what all this meant. What did he do now? He'd just learned that he hadn't slain a monster, he'd murdered a loving father...

He felt his throat grow tight at the thought. There was no one now. He was alone, alone...

"Mako, that's a bit too tight," Korra muttered from beside him.

Mako relaxed the tight grip his hand had taken on her shoulder, sucking in a breath when he realised that it wasn't true; he wasn't alone.

He wasn't alone, Korra was with him. Still. Even though he'd set her free, even though she could have made a run for it during his battle with Zolt, even though she could have left him in the cave...

She was still with him.

"Mako." Shin's voice broke in on his thoughts, and Mako instantly resented it. He didn't need any more revelations dropped on him. He just wanted to be left alone.

Or rather, he wanted to be left alone with Korra.

"Leave us!" The imperious tone of Mako's voice made Shin grind his teeth, but he knew a dead end when he saw one. If he pushed, Mako would have nothing of it. If he left the boy to stew then maybe everything would turn out as it was meant to.

And if it didn't, Shin thought he knew who would be responsible. Korra's presence wasn't merely an annoyance, her presence was a danger to his plans.

Shin mused on eliminating her right then and there, but then dismissed the impulse as far too hasty. She was, after all, the Avatar. If Korra were killed, Shin would have to make sure it couldn't be linked to the Triad in any way. Something told him that if Mako had even the faintest suspicion that he was involved in her demise, the younger fire bender would devote his life to destroying him.

So he walked away, leaving the pair alone on the shore.

Korra huffed a soft sigh of relief when the Triad acquiesced to Mako's request and left them alone.

For what seemed like an eternity, Mako didn't move, staring out at the waves. Korra stayed silent, knowing he was trying to work everything out in his head, and didn't envy him the task. It was mind-boggling enough for her; she hated to think what it would be like for him.

"He loved me..." Mako said distantly. "He loved me...all along..."

Korra could practically hear an emergency siren wailing in her head; complete mental meltdown imminent!

She turned, and was left stunned as she saw the tears trickling from Mako's amber eyes.

She had never seen Mako cry before. Ever.

His shoulders began to shake with sobs and that was when Korra lost it. She twisted in his grasp and clung onto him like a limpet, wrapping her arms around his chest and pulling herself to him, holding him as though she could somehow encompass all of his sorrow and make it better.

When she felt tears begin to sting her own eyes, she didn't fight them.

Mako couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. Even as he watched his tears fall to cling to Korra's hair in tiny droplets of salt water, the fact that he was crying didn't seem real. He could feel the weight of sorrow on his chest like a physical pressure, crushing his heart and lungs and everything around, making his breath seem too sharp and his heart beat too hard.

It still didn't seem real.

He could feel Korra's arms around him, holding him so tightly that the side of her face was pressed against his bare chest as though it had been glued there. He could feel her hair blanketed against his skin, and the dampness of her own tears on his flesh. She was crying for him...why didn't that surprise him?

It still didn't seem real.

He could feel her ragged, uneven breaths puffing against his tear-damp skin, and felt it when she took a deep breath to speak. For a moment, he wondered what she'd say, if she'd try to mouth platitudes in an attempt to calm him down. What _could_ she say?

"I'm here," Korra whispered. She wasn't about to say 'it's okay' or 'it'll be alright' because she didn't know if it would ever be okay or alright, and she knew it would do no good to lie to him.

"I'm here."

But she could say that.

"I'm here."

And Mako realised it was the truth. She was here with him. She was crying for him. For some reason he would never understand, she cared about him.

Mako moved. His arms reached down and closed around her, pressing her against him as though seeking to pull her straight through his skin.

Korra squeaked softly when Mako clutched at her, with such strength in his grip that he actually lifted her off the ground. She didn't protest. On the contrary, she just held him tighter. His face was pressed into her lengthy, chocolate hair. She could feel his tears wetting the top of her head and sliding down her own face until she didn't know which tears on her cheeks were hers and which were his.

Some part of Mako was still utterly bewildered by his actions. He'd never been a very physical sort of person. Prolonged contact like this usually made him edgy, eager to end it...not desperate for more.

Mako wondered if the events he had just lived through had changed something within him. But strangely, he didn't care if they had. He didn't care about anything except the burning sorrow in his chest and the woman in his arms.

"I'm here," she whispered again. "I'm here..."

"Thank you."

Korra was unable to help herself from tensing at the memory of the last time he'd said those two words to her. One of her hands on his back curved until her fingertips were resting against his spine.

"You try to knock me out, I'll hit this nerve cluster and I swear you won't be walking for a week," she mumbled wetly, just to be cautious.

Mako was struck with the sudden, bizarre urge to laugh. He huffed an amused breath that sounded more like a sob.

Korra chuckled softly through her tears and Mako realised that the sorrow that had crushed his chest wasn't quite as sharp anymore. It was still there, but...lighter somehow.

He slowly lowered Korra to the sand, not really knowing what had happened, but aware that their relationship had changed. Or perhaps changed was the wrong word. It had shifted, in the same way that turning a gem in the light revealed different facets of it.

Something told him that this shift had been building for a long, long time. Had been happening for a long, long time, and he was only now aware of it.

She met his eyes, and he realised she could feel it too.

"So, uh..." Korra rubbed at her eyes, wiping the last of the tears from her cheeks. "What now?"

Mako considered it. If he had killed Zolt, and never learned the truth, he might have been able to return to Republic City. But now that he knew what those council members had done...no, he couldn't go back. He had to honour his parents and Zolt's memory. He had to eradicate the cause of so much destruction...

"I will destroy Republic City," he said softly.

Korra's eyes widened, and she looked startled. But couldn't she see that it had to be done? The Republic City council was corrupt. It had to be destroyed. He couldn't allow them to get away with what they'd done...

Korra had heard the story herself, surely she understood?

Apparently not, because she was just staring at him as though she couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth.

Mako sighed and turned away. "Come on; we need to get back to the others-"

_"YOU STUPID, SELFISH, ARROGANT, THICK-HEADED_ _PRICK!_"

Mako turned around just in time to see Korra's fist flying towards his face.

* * *

I'm back after a very long hiatus. Long story short; I've been living and travelling between Australia and Japan for the last year, with not a lot of time to sit down and churn out some much needed chapter updates on this story and my other stories. In the last week and a half I returned to Australia to recommence my studies, so hopefully in my down time, I'll have some time to keep up with my fanfiction. This chapter was quite difficult to write and I do apologise if it doesn't make a lot of sense. Anyway! On to the next chapter...

Bonami27.


	19. Life Update

Hi all, followers new and old.

Let me begin by apologising for my lack of contribution to this story (among others). Life the past two years (late 2015 and 2016) has seen me go through a major pace change from moving permanently to another country and raising a baby has lead me to be less able to work on my fanfiction. I have in the past month or so, managed to find a few moments in the very little time I have, to write further progress in this story. I'm so thankful that even now, with very little online presence, that I receive messages from followers, old and new alike, wishing me well and praising what they've already read of my fanfiction; it's a great source of encouragement, so thank you. I promise to make a conscious effort to upload more regularly in the year to come but ask for your understanding if I happen to disappear for a while. Once again thank you, and please look forward to what I have instore!

Bonami27.


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